Beer Sheva is gearing up for historic visits by Prime Ministers of two distant countries whose brave soldiers fought on our local soil in a spectacular battle against the Turks and the Ottoman Empire 100 years ago on October 31, 1917.
The two PM’s are Malcolm Turnbull of Australia, and Bill English of New Zealand, whose ANZAC troops fought together on that day of destiny to open the way for the British-led Allied forces to capture the Holy Land from the Islamic Caliphate of the day, and to pave the way for the proclamation of the Balfour Declaration on Nov 2, 1917. This document gave impetus for the return of the Jewish people back to the Land of Israel.
A new ANZAC museum is currently undergoing construction at the location of the WW1 British War Cemetery in Beer Sheva, and will also be officially dedicated as part of this year’s special commemoration. The Israel PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, is also scheduled to attend.
The Australian Light Horse: http://www.lighthorse.org.au/famous-battles/world-war-one/famous-battles-the-battle-at-beersheba
New Zealand Mounted Rifles: http://www.nzmr.org/beersheba.htm
Photos http://www.israeldailypicture.com/2011/10/battle-of-beer-sheva-october-31-1917.html
This article originally appeared on Streams in the Negev, September 28, 2017, and reposted with permission.