Prayers Mark Anniversary of Fall of Jerusalem’s Old City

Special prayers were offered on the seventh anniversary today of the fall of the Old City of Jerusalem to the Arab Legion. The services were conducted atop Mt, Zion from which could be seen the ruined Jewish quarter of the Old City and the deserted Wailing Wall. Services were also held for those who died in defense of the city.

In the Knesset, the Herut Party called for the government to recompense those who lost their homes when the Old City fell. In reply Finance Minister Levi Eshkol noted that the government had offered to each family evacuated from the Old City certain sums to enable its re-establishment and that such families could claim the money any time they chose. Also he said, such families were given priority for homes in government housing projects.