In order to get a better sense of the current condition and seriousness of the situation, I posed several questions to Jeff Daube, director of the Israel Office of the Zionist Organization of America and Israel co-chairman of the International Committee for the Preservation of Har Hazeitim:
1) What is the significance of the Mount of Olives historically?
“The Jewish significance of the Mount of Olives (HH) cannot be overstated. It is the greatest repository of Jewish history in the world, represented by the leaders and scholars buried in its 3,000+ year old cemetery. This would include three ancient Jewish prophets and a prophetess; numerous sages; chief rabbis of Israel; an Israeli prime minister; many Zionist builders and defenders of Israel, such as the founder of Hadassah Hospital; and illustrious Jews and countless others from around the world whose final request had been to be buried in Judaism’s holiest cemetery. Note that it sits directly across from Judaism’s holiest site over all, the Temple Mount.”
2) What is its significance for Israeli sovereignty?
“While residents of Jerusalem are entitled to safe and secure access in all areas of sovereign Jerusalem, depriving Jews on HH has special significance. Despite the fact that HH had fallen behind the 1948 ceasefire line, the April 1949 Israel-Jordan Rhodes Armistice Agreement recognized its special status by stipulating, in Article VIII(2), that not only should visitors to the cemetery be accorded free access, but use of the cemetery for burial purposes should continue in force. The exact opposite happened, as we know, under the 1948-67 Jordanian occupation, which also permitted the desecrations of tens of thousands of graves.
“Given the realities of HH under Jordanian occupation, HH post-1949 needs to have Israeli sovereignty asserted in order to prevent a repeat of the depredations. Moreover, from the point of view of geostrategic importance, Israeli control is needed to forestall Palestinian Arab attempts to form a north-south corridor of massive illegal construction from Ramallah to Bethlehem. With facts on the ground, which the Arabs are steadily pursuing virtually unchecked, they could severely undermine Israeli sovereignty not only in eastern Jerusalem, but extending well beyond to the Adumim bloc further east. The Jewish presence on HH, together with the adjacent City of David and Emek Tzurim National Park, constitute a natural barrier to those efforts.”
3) What is the security situation: Is it being protected from Arab vandals and terrorists sufficiently?
“The security situation has improved — at least as I write, though conditions as we have observed are in continual flux. There are more police, both uniformed and undercover, than in years past. ZOA’s Israel Office has been instrumental in that process. Actually, we’ve accomplished quite a bit more, having worked with the cabinet secretary and director general in the Prime Minister’s Office on a strategy to effect greater well-being for Arab residents, and security for Jews, throughout all of eastern Jerusalem. Known as The Mandelblit Plan, this new carrot and stick approach, by means of a 300 million shekel budget addition, may be responsible for certain changes we’ve already observed.
“During the summer and into September, October and early November, the situation had been especially horrific. Now, with the increased police presence, the number of attacks is down to 5-6 per day. This still is too high. Many of the attacks involve stonings, firebombings or shooting fireworks. Kindergartens and burial processions are sometimes the targets. Luckily nobody has been killed, but Jewish visitors have been seriously injured; if not for the lucky breaks, the outcomes would have been far worse. We continue to advocate for a policy of zero tolerance.