by Hillel Fendel
First Menachem Begin, Yitzchak Rabin, former Foreign Minister Yigal Alon – and now Rabbi and Rabbanit Levinger of the City of the Patriarchs [Hevron] have joined the club: They all have highways named after them in Israel.
Kvish Rabin (Highway 6) is Israel's first toll highway, from the Galilee to the Negev; Kvish Begin runs through Jerusalem; and Kvish Alon in the Jordan Valley. The latest of these routes is still under construction, but it already has a name: Kvish Levinger, named after the founders of modern-day Jewish Hevron, Rabbi Moshe and Rabbanit Miriam Levinger.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev informed the Levinger family of the decision to name the highway after their parents. One of the Levinger sons, Malachi, served as Mayor of Kiryat Arba-Hevron for ten years, until 2018.
The new route, 7.5 kilometers long, will connect Gush Etzion southward to the northern outskirts of Hevron and Kiryat Arba, bypassing the Arab villages of Biet Omar and El-Aroub. What was once a tricky drive from Jerusalem to Hevron through winding hills and hostile areas will now become a comfortable and quick drive.
"As we are now marking two months since the passing of Rabbanit Miriam," Regev said, "there is no time more appropriate than just before we read aloud Parashat Chaye Sarah, which recounts the purchase by Avraham of the Machpelah Cave and symbolizes the Jewish People's eternal connection with this area, to memorialize the Levingers who are so identified with Hevron. This is the most suitable connection, like a bridge of life. Hevron and Hibur (connection) – the symbols of the Levinger family."
Rabbi Levinger, who died in 2015, was one of the founders of the Gush Emunim settlement movement, and is considered the Father of Jewish Hevron. In 1968, he and his wife led a group of pioneers who sought to buy homes in the city. They were ultimately "only" able to rent out the local Park Hotel for the week of Passover – where they remained for six weeks until finally receiving official recognition as residents of the area.(See http://en.hebron.org.il/
The Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria congratulated all involved on the new name: "This is a sign of appreciation for the Levingers' important work in renewing Jewish settlement in the City of Patriarchs and Matriarchs. Rabbi and Rabbanit Levinger, among the first settlers of Hevron and Judea after the area was liberated [in the 1967 Six Day War], are symbols of pioneering and love for the Land of Israel and the People of Israel. Naming the road for them will preserve their legacy for future generations. We will soon all be able to speedily travel from Jerusalem to Hevron on a new highway, the paving of which began several weeks ago. We will thus strengthen the settlement enterprise in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley, following in the footsteps of these precious pioneers."
The new highway will begin at the Gush Etzion junction – currently a large roundabout, but which will soon feature a traffic light – and will run southward to join the existing highway outside Kiryat Arba, just after Karmei Tzur.
The Levinger Highway is one of several new Bypass Highways in a comprehensive development program that the Yesha Council has been promoting in recent years, together with the Transportation Ministry, the Prime Minister's Office, the Defense Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Civil Administration.
Yesha Council Chairman David Elhayani said, "We have been working in recent years to promote a master plan for transportation to promote Israeli settlement in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley. The residents here have rights equal to those of all residents of Israel and this is the task assigned to us - to promote the area for the benefit of the residents."
Kiryat Arba-Hevron Mayor Eliyahu Libman: "This bypass road is important for several reasons, including security, safety, and more. It is an important milestone in bolstering the Jewish presence in Judea. I would like to congratulate the Prime Minister's Office and the Transportation Ministry for planning and starting the project."
Local mayors, their professional staffs, and government officials convened recently to begin planning a master plan for transportation in the area up to the year 2045! At present the work includes gathering data such as residents' traffic habits, and using roadside cameras to count cars, note the hours and extent of traffic congestion, and the like. Possible future plans include adding lanes to existing highways, building a new north-south highway, light rail transportation, and more.