Holy Basin

The term was coined by the contemporary Israeli generation as part of a political-academic discourse on how one refers to the area in Jerusalem where the historical and holy sites are concentrated.

Isaac Tischler maintains that David Ben-Gurion argued that "Jerusalem is not Shuafat, Beit Hanina or Sur Baher, nor Abu Dis, but rather the Holy Basin – the Temple Mount and the Old City".

In a comprehensive study [4] on the holy basin, Professor Ruth Lapidoth starts with an example out of the first speech, in the First Knesset, by the poet Uri Zvi Greenberg.

From there, to the Valley of Josaphat up to the Ras al-Amud road – including the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery[dubious – discuss].

[citation needed] According to the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies,[9] in late 2003, 35,400 residents lived in the Old City, and in the entire Holy Basin around 40,000.

In 2006, the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, headed by Ruth Lapidot, conducted a research on alternatives to the sovereignty over the Holy Basin.

A view from Valley of Jehoshaphat , a drawing from the 19th century of Thomas Seddon .
A view at the Holy Basin from Mount Scopus .