After close to 15 years of seeking the required permits to establish a community cemetery, the Gush Etzion community of Efrat in 2006 was granted the necessary licenses by the IDF Civil Administration. Area residents are interred in the Gush Etzion regional cemetery but with the growth of the area, especially Efrat, another cemetery is needed.

After spending NIS hundreds of thousands to begin developing the land allocated and approved, a local Arab filed a complaint, insisting the land is his. As a result, at the end of 2006, the Civil Administration informed the Municipality of Efrat to halt work on the planned cemetery.

It appears that the Civil Administration decided the Arab’s claim was valid, but it failed to inform Efrat officials, who only learned of the decision in May 2007. As a result, the city lost NIS 300,000 and perhaps more significant, it is once again without a viable option for a cemetery.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)