Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Temple Mount Sifting Project Halted After Major Backer Pulls Funds
Error: Contact form not found.
by JNS.org
Temple Mount Sifting Project work in October 2016. Photo: Miriam Alster/Flash90.
JNS.org – The Temple Mount Sifting Project, an archaeological initiative to uncover rare artifacts buried in soil removed from the Jerusalem holy site in the 1990s, has been halted due to budget constraints.
The project issued a statement on its closure Sunday, citing “lack of funding and differences between the directors of the Sifting Project and the Ir David Foundation.”
A year after the sifting project commenced, the Ir David Foundation had agreed to finance the operation, and did so for 12 years before pulling the funding in March.
A spokesperson for the foundation, Ze’ev Orenstein, said “about 12 years ago the Ir David organization helped save the earth that was excavated from the Temple Mount…since that time the group voluntarily funded the sifting, processing and research of the earth to the tune of millions of shekels. We hope that a way will be found for this national and international project to continue.”
Throughout its duration, the project involved the participation of more than 250,000 volunteers who helped sift through the salvaged Jerusalem dirt to uncover tens of thousands of small archaeological objects and fragments.
One of the project’s rarest finds was a half-shekel coin dating back to the first year of the Jewish revolt against Rome in 66 CE.
