Deputy Minister of Health (Yahadut HaTorah) Yaakov Litzman appears unwilling to abide by an earlier ministry decision permitting the exhumation of kevarim to permit expansion of Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. Israel’s chief rabbis approved the move, which intends to accommodate expanding the hospital, including an underground wing that is immune to rocket attacks from Gaza.

Litzman told a Knesset Welfare and Health Committee that he will not approve exhuming kevarim and the Chief Rabbinate will stand behind him. He favors one of the alternative plans, constructing the fortified wing on the parking lot, promising to do everything to expedite the project.

Proponents of the hospital expansion project are harshly critical of Litzman, insisting he is putting the honor of the dead ahead of the lives of the living.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)