{"id":220562,"date":"2026-06-16T16:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/220562\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T16:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:46:08","slug":"the-bible-road-israel-moves-to-turn-a-biblical-highway-into-a-global-tourism-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/220562\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Bible Road\u2019: Israel moves to turn a biblical highway into a global tourism brand"},"content":{"rendered":"

The government is expected to approve a plan to promote Highway 60 as \u201cThe Bible Road,\u201d turning one of the country\u2019s main north-south routes into a heritage, history and tourism corridor.<\/p>\n

Highway 60 runs from Be’er Sheva in southern Israel to Nof Hagalil in the north, passing through or near many sites associated with biblical narratives, Jewish history and modern Zionism, including Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem, Shiloh, Gush Etzion, Mount Gilboa and the Jezreel Valley.<\/p>\n

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2 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05d3\u05e8\u05da<\/a>\"\u05d3\u05e8\u05da<\/p>\n

The Bible Road <\/p>\n

(Illustration: Courtesy of the Bible Road Project)<\/p>\n

Parts of the route pass through the West Bank, territory the Palestinians seek for a future state and where Israeli settlements are considered illegal by most of the international community. Israel disputes that view.<\/p>\n

Under the plan, \u201cThe Bible Road\u201d would become a tourism and public diplomacy brand linking heritage sites, archaeological areas, nature attractions, innovation hubs and cultural destinations along the historic route.<\/p>\n

The initiative is expected to include visitor centers, lookout points, multilingual signage and educational programs aimed at making the history of the Land of Israel accessible to Israeli and foreign visitors.<\/p>\n

In Jerusalem, the route is expected to connect with major heritage sites, including the City of David and the Old City, as well as academic, economic and innovation centers meant to highlight the connection between Israel\u2019s past and present.<\/p>\n

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2 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05de\u05e2\u05e8\u05ea<\/a>\"\u05de\u05e2\u05e8\u05ea<\/p>\n

The Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron <\/p>\n

(Photo: HAZEM BADER \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Yishai Fleisher, a member of the Efrat local council and international spokesman for the Jewish community in Hebron, called the expected government decision a national and strategic move.<\/p>\n

\u201cHighway 60 is much more than a transportation road \u2014 it is the route on which a large part of the story of the Jewish people was written,\u201d Fleisher said. \u201cTurning it into \u2018The Bible Road\u2019 will connect the ancient history of the land with the modern State of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters compare the planned route to well-known heritage roads such as Route 66 in the United States, the Camino de Santiago in Spain and Germany\u2019s Romantic Road.<\/p>\n

The next stage is expected to include interministerial planning to map sites, allocate funding, develop infrastructure and prepare an international campaign promoting \u201cThe Bible Road\u201d as a global heritage destination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The government is expected to approve a plan to promote Highway 60 as \u201cThe Bible Road,\u201d turning one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-220562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}