According to reports, officials in the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday reached a final decision, and they plan to move the bones at the proposed building site of the fortified emergency room at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.

One such report was released by Kol Chai Radio’s  Noam Zeigman, who reports Eyal Gabbai, the director-general of the Prime Minister’s Bureau indicated that the decision was made and the bones will be moved at the first opportune time, perhaps as soon as next week. This is confirmed in a report released in the daily Yisrael HaYom.

On Sunday, YWN-Israel reported that Rav Rosa of Zaka and other officials met with Gabbai as they continued lobbying for the new plan, to build the hospital under the kevarim, but it appears the decision has already been made to go with the original plan.

An atzeres was held in Yerushalayim on Sunday night to lay the groundwork for protests intended to stop such a plan from becoming reality. Rav Dovid Smeidal of Atra Kadisha appears to be preparing for a major battle, signaling he is unwilling to permit anyone to move the bones.

Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin praised the move, encouraging the government to expedite the start of the construction of the badly-needed fortified medical complex. He also called on chareidim who feel a need to protest to do so respectfully to avoid a confrontation with local residents who are anxiously awaiting the construction of the emergency room complex.

Yisrael HaYom reports Barzilai officials refused to release a formal statement, but one person speaking off the record stated that “I will believe it when I see the tractors working in the area”.

The daily HaMevaser reports that a deal was reached on Sunday between Gabbai and hospital officials by which the bones will be removed from the area in the immediate future.

It should be pointed out that despite the reports from a number of sources, the Prime Minister’s Office has not officially announced a decision and it is entirely possible the leak is a trial balloon to assess the level of resistance such a decision will elicit from the chareidi community.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)