“There could be no more precious gift presented to the State of Israel,” declared the Prime Minister, “than this splendid Adulam Park, which was a densely populated Jewish area in the time of the second temple. Slowly and surely we are renewing our connections to the past. This is our land, no doubt about it. If anyone is uncertain, we can bring him here to see how Jews lived here over two thousand years ago. Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, the Jewish National Fund, has always been dedicated to the redemption of the land. I am proud to possess a blue box, and I believe it will be possible to sense the magic of the past on the bicycle paths here.” Prime Minister Olmert deplored the phenomenon of antiquities theft, which is frequent in Adulam. “The Antiquities Authority,” he said, “is combating this phenomenon of people who are trying to steal the past and traffic in our history.”
At the ceremony, KKL-JNF World Chairman Efi Stenzler said, “Adulam Caves Park is part of the biospheric expanse of the Judean Plain, a green belt that crosses the country, where we are working to maintain the character of the terrain and the balance between development, agriculture, nature and open spaces. We see this green strip as an important contribution to the quality of life of the population of Israel. The hundreds of thousands of people who visit this region annually prove that this is not a luxury but an existential necessity. KKL-JNF invites the public to a giant festive event on Independence Day for the inauguration of the park and to celebrate sixty years of statehood.”
“Here, in the Judean Plain,” said IAA Director General Shuka Dorfman, “was the heart of Jewish settlement of the land of Israel. This pastoral location was thriving with life in those days. We found one of the oldest synagogues in Israel here, and underground tunnel systems that Jews constructed before the great revolt, and here we are today, two thousand years later, celebrating sixty years in the State of Israel. We are a point in time in the continuum of history, and it is our duty to continue and transmit our heritage to the next generations.”