Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu marked the annual Jerusalem Day festivities by paying tribute to the Jewish State’s founding father Theodor Herzl at the newly-inaugurated museum in his name Sunday.
Heralding the opening of the educational centre at the entrance to Mount Herzl, the Prime Minister said there was "no place more fitting from which to call on the children and citizens of Israel to come visit Jerusalem, to come to this museum, to see the greatness of this man, who was one of the giants of history."
The Israeli capital, he added, with the addition of the new museum, was fast “becoming a modern metropolis with a very strong link to the past and a very promising leap to the future”, which he proclaimed a fitting tribute to Herzl’s vision for the country as a whole.
Espousing the “vision and strength” of the Zionist innovator, who became Israel’s first leader following the establishment of the Jewish State, he concluded his address at the start of a specially-convened weekly cabinet meeting by insisting: “It would be proper for every boy and girl in Israel, and the many who visit here, to understand our roots, our ties to Zion and our obligation to continue developing our land and our state for the coming generations.”
Echoing the premier’s endorsement of Jerusalem’s educational and infrastructural developments, the city’s mayor Nir Barkat paid tribute to the World Zionist Organisation and Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport co-funded project as the modern–day embodiment of Zionist ideals, as he insisted that “this process is strengthening Jerusalem, and for that I am grateful from the bottom of my heart”.
Heralding the city’s regeneration, which has seen an influx of young families, children in education and cultural events being staged with the government’s backing, he added: “Tourism has increased and is currently approaching 4 million tourists per annum, with Jerusalem being the main beneficiary.”
According to the museum’s literature, the centre, which was built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Zionist leader’s death, aims to “depict the impact and power his activities had on our contemporary reality”. In drawing a link between the past and present of the Zionist Movement, the institute hopes to outline the future of the Jewish State.
“The audience joins Herzl on a journey to Zionism, accompanying him as he formulates his positions, identifying with his hopes and disappointments, and understanding the importance of the legacy he left behind while examining the challenges we presently face,” continues the blurb.
Meanwhile, the cabinet meeting appointed a Ministerial Committee on Jerusalem Affairs to be chaired by PM and acting Foreign Minister Netanyahu, as well as discussing a series of proposed “projects and initiatives being carried out in the city in various fields including tourism, highways, science, medicine, employment and construction”, with the aim of regenerating the city and creating new opportunities for Jerusalem’s youth.
Jerusalem Day commemorates the anniversary of the Six Day War, when the Israeli army liberated the Old City and the Temple Mount from Jordanian rule, paving the way for the unification of what Netanyahu has repeatedly referred to as Israel’s “eternal capital” in recent months.