Finance Ministry pledges cash to keep Ammunition Hill open

Budget shortages have plagued Six Day War site, where all 182 soldiers who fell in the battle for Jerusalem in 1967 are memorialized

The memorial and museum at Ammunition Hill will remain open to the public after funds were pledged to the historic site by the Finance Ministry on Friday morning.

According to Israel Radio, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz’s intervention over the past 24 hours was successful, as policymakers allocated a special budget to ensure the site will stay open.

The memorial site at Ammunition Hill in north Jerusalem had been due to close on Monday due to financial difficulties, it was reported Thursday.

Thirty-six Israeli soldiers and 71 Jordanian soldiers were killed in the Battle of Ammunition Hill, which took place on June 6, 1967, but all 182 Israeli soldiers killed in the fighting for Jerusalem are memorialized there.

On Wednesday, the site’s board of directors sent a letter to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, urging him to increase the budget allotted to the site in light of the high costs of running it and keeping it open to the public – including teachers, schoolchildren and soldiers, who often conduct educational tours of the site – free of cost.