From the Liveblog of
Thursday, February 13, 2025
Western Wall rabbi demands stone displayed at airport be returned to holy site
Rossella Tercatin is The Times of Israel's archaeology and religions reporter.
The rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinovitch, demands that a stone from the Jerusalem holy site currently on display at Ben Gurion Airport be returned to its original location.
“The Western Wall stones are sacred, and with all the desire to showcase Jewish history and Israel’s heritage, the Western Wall stones should not be removed for this purpose,” he writes in a letter addressed to Heritage Ministry Director-General Itay Grank and Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) Director Eli Eskozido.
The Heritage Ministry and the IAA co-organized the exhibition “The Eternity of Israel” with the Airports Authority. The exhibition was inaugurated yesterday.
Alongside the stone, the exhibit at Ben Gurion’s departure hall features a Hasmonean coin hoard; archaeological evidence of the name “Ahab,” a king of northern Israel featured in the Bible; and ancient weapons.
Numerous stones from the Western Wall that collapsed as the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE can be found in excavations in the area of the Western Wall Plaza. One of them is on permanent display at the President’s Residence.
Rabinovitch concludes his letter by requesting that the stone be taken from the airport and immediately returned to the Western Wall area.
