Elation was felt throughout Israel today over the new link established between Jerusalem and the coastal plain of the Jewish state through the newly-built 25-mile road whose formal opening was marked yesterday in impressive ceremonies at which Premier David Ben Gurion, members of his cabinet and high military officials participated.
The road was named “Derech Hagvurah” — the Highway of Valor. Israeli aircraft, tanks and armored care wore displayed during the ceremony which included the dedication of a 40-foot obelisk honoring the memory of Israeli fighters who were killed in the battle for Jerusalem.
“Today is an historic day,” Premier Ben Gurion said, addressing the Jewish troops. “With our own efforts and with the blood of our fighters we broke through the enemy’s siege of Jerusalem, relieving our eternal capital.” Declaring that had the Arab plans to capture Jerusalem been realized, it would have been “the hardest blow for Israel,” Ben Gurion continued:
“We knew the importance of the battle for Jerusalem and we sent out best troops to open the road to remove the siege. One of the important phases in our battle was the historic battle of Latrun, in which our revered commander, David Marcus, foll.” The Israeli Premier paid tribute to those soldiers who “arrived from overseas to die for Jerusalem” as well as the civilians and workers who built the new road.
“THE ROAD TO OUR ETERNAL CAPITAL IS NOW OPEN,” BON GURION SAYS
Runners from Jerusalem — veterans of Israeli units who fought in the battle for Jerusalem — arrived at the scone of the dedication ceremonies and reported to the Premier: “We broke through the road and the road is free,” and “we passed the road and the road is safe.” Bon Gurion thereupon announced that the “road to our eternal capital is open.”
Later, the opening of the road was celebrated at a dinner in Jerusalem arranged by the Army General Staff in honor of Jerusalem’s defenders. Gen. Yaacov Dori, Chief of Staff, declare a at the dinner that “the struggle for Jerusalem will be included in the people’s annals as a Hasmonean war and will serve as a symbol for future generations.” Reviewing the successive phases in the fighting, Gen. Dori said: “We passed through the most difficult part on the road to full victory, but we have not yet reached this point. We have reached a breathing spell, but let us not deceive ourselves and think that the war is over — difficult times are ahead, but we are confident we will win.”
During the opening ceremonies of the new road, two new settlements were established alongside the new highway on Jewish National Fund land. The colonies occupy 9,000 dunams of land. One of these settlements was named in honor of the late Col. David Marcus. It is expected that an additional 20 settlements will be founded during the current Jewish year along the approaches to Jerusalem.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
