Following his conviction in the Holyland trial and sentencing to six years imprisonment, former Jerusalem Mayor Rabbi Uri Lupoliansky plans to appeal the sentence to the High Court of Justice.

It is reported that Lupoliansky is receiving many letters of support from former colleagues and the many people he has assisted in his tenacious acts of chessed over the past decades. One of those letters comes from MK (The Movement) Elazar Stern, who writes “Like many others among Am Yisrael, I was surprised and sorry to hear of the sentence imposed on you. I have great admiration and appreciation for Israel’s legal system and attach great importance to its status among the People of Israel. Unfortunately I know that corruption has infected us to the point of posing a strategic threat to our country. We must launch an all-out war against it. I looked at the Holyland project for many years as a symbol of this corruption. I have no doubt it should become a symbol of the fight against corruption”.

Stern continues, “I am aware of the decades of voluntary chessed work you have done and how you and your family does chessed without boundaries. It is chessed that does not distinguish between religious and non-religious or between Jew and non-Jew. Work that not only contributes to the quality of life for many in need in Israel but a message of unity to the entire Jewish People. I have no doubt that your years of public service and total dedication to the needs of others will not be forgotten. The legal storm surrounding us today cannot dim the power of influence of the countless activities of tzedaka that you ran, I am aware of your modest lifestyle, one that sets too high a bar for politicians and public officials in Israel today…”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)