1 Million Tourists visit Hebron in Record-Breaking Year

Over one million tourists visited the Tomb of the Patriarchs and
Matriarchs in Hebron according to new figures released by the IDF Border Patrol Machpela
division who are in charge of security at the ancient holy site. The amount was recorded
at 1,456,953 visitors which is a 90.6% increase over 2018 and the most ever
recorded.

This year 711,428 Jewish visitors entered the site, where the Biblical Matriarchs and
Patriarchs are buried, a 77% increase over the previous year.

617,077 Muslims entered the site in 2019, compared with 287,693 in 2018 and 237,643 in
2017, up 114%.

126,429 tourists from different nationalities visited the place in 2019 – compared with
73,570 in 2018 and 60,101 in 2017, an increase of 71.8%.

There are separate entrances for Jewish and Muslim worshipers. The IDF and Israeli
police guard the site and maintain order and crowd control. On Muslim holidays, Israeli
security personnel and Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medics work hand-in-hand with
Muslim medics from the Red Crescent to ensure safety on Islamic holidays such as
Ramadan.

This year, large scale events such as Shabbat Parshat Chayei Sarah drew tens of
thousands. The Succot concert and Passover concert also drew large crowds.  Other
large annual events included the unprecedented visit by Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu on the memorial for the 1929 Hebron massacre, the annual slichot event, the
Women’s Prayer Gathering, the memorial for Rebbitzin Menucha Rochel Slonim, and the
French Jewish community’s Yom Hevron parade.

For 700 years, the site was restricted to Muslims only, first by the Mamlukes and then
by the Ottoman Empire. Jewish worshipers were restricted to the seventh step of the
staircase leading to the Tomb complex. From 1948 – 1967, Jews were banned completely
from the city. After the Six Day War of 1967, the Israeli authorities opened the site to
all faiths.

 

To visit Hebron:

 

United States contact info:



http://www.hebronfund.com/

1760 Ocean Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11230

718-677-6886

info@hebronfund.org



In Israel contact the offices of the Jewish Community of Hebron
at:

http://en.hebron.org.il/

02-996-5333

office@hebron.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hebronofficial

 

 

* Holiday opening and
closing schedule for Tomb of Machpela – 2020

* New record for
Shabbat Hebron – 45,000 enjoy historic city

HEBRON CONTACT INFORMATION