Celebrated author and journalist Emanuel Ben Sabo was presented with an award by Israeli Minister of Religious Services Michael Malkieli for his advocacy for handicapped access to the Tomb of the Patriarchs & Matriarchs in Hebron. A celebrated author of many books for both adults and children, Ben Sabo participated in the campaign to create handicapped access by writing letters to government ministers, Members of Knesset, the Prime Minister's Office and keeping the issue in the news and on the public agenda.

The project was spearheaded by residents of the Jewish community of Hebron and the Btsalmo Organization headed by Shai Glick. After years of court cases, a wheelchair ramp and elevator was finally completed in the summer of 2023.

Glick stated, “if it weren't for the activity of the journalist Emanuel Ben Sabo, and the sending of countless queries over and over to politicians and insisting on getting real answers and timetables, we would not be here today. The drop is not carved into the rock by strength, but by the strength of persistence, and this is the strength of Emanuel Ben Sabo.”

In the certificate presented to Ben Sabo, Minister Malkieli wrote, "in recognition, appreciation and blessings, to the educator, journalist, writer and publicist, Emanuel Ben Sabo, who worked out of a deep sense of mission and moral duty, for over a decade to make the Cave of Machpela accessible to all who wish to visit it. This is where it all began, in the Cave of the Patriarchs, the honorable resting place of the mothers and fathers of the nation, the birthplace of the Hebrew nation."
 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

 

* Wheelchair access to Tomb of Patriarchs gets final approval - June 2020 

* Handicapped access elevator completed in Hebron - June 2023

* השר לשירותי דת , הרב מיכאל מלכיאלי , העניק תעודת הוקרה והערכה על הנגשת מערת המכפלה - August 2024