“We are very close to MK Miri Regev, who as chair of the Knesset Interior Committee was spearheading efforts along the lines we proposed. Her high standing within Likud pretty much assures she’ll be back in that role soon. We also are already discussing parallel legal strategies with new candidates on the scene expected to win seats in the next Knesset session.
“ZOA ISRAEL has been working on the desecrations issue with U.S. Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-NY). Her Protect Cemeteries Act, which we had helped bring to the attention of Meng’s colleagues to help it pass, has applicability to this particular problem. The implications of that bill, now a law, for penalizing any country that fails to protect its cemeteries is thornily connected to the Jerusalem sovereignty question.
“My office is also working with U.S. State Department officials to get the attacks entered into relevant reports for 2014 (on Terrorism, Human Rights Practices), which we had achieved with State’s countries report on International Religious Freedom in previous years. We’re pursuing a course of getting the attacks labeled as ‘anti-Semitism,’ as well, because Christian groups on HH tend not to be victimized the way Jews are.
“While not a matter of legislation, we are asking State Department’s Consul General and officials to elicit condemnations from local Arab leaders and from the PA itself, both of whose incitement is highly correlated with the violence and desecrations. Contact ZOA.org for further details on how to get involved.”
Bottom line: We must all treat the Mount of Olives with the reverence and importance it deserves — strategically and religiously — or ignore it and give it up at our peril.