The demand for wheelchair accessibility to the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs in Hebron is increasing as the Union of Right-Wing Parties sent a letter on the issue Monday
"A determined struggle is being held with a simple and humanitarian request to make the Cave of the Patriarchs accessible to the disabled," stated Rafi Peretz and Bezalel Smotrich of the URP in the letter issued ahead of the coalition agreements about to take place after the Knesset elections.
"Despite the law requiring access to public buildings, and despite the large number of visitors in the place is locked to the disabled," the URP continued. They blamed the Muslim Waqf for holding up plans for an elevator and ramp for years.
The ancient burial site of the Biblical Matriarchs and Patriarchs is also called the Tomb of Machpela and it is located in Hebron. It attracts about 700,000 tourists a year.
The 2,000-year-old structure built over the burial caves was erected by King Herod the Great and today has separate sections for Jews and Muslims. Hebron is mostly controlled by the Palestinian Authority with the Jewish community, located near the Tomb, under Israeli jurisdiction.