Israel forest grove dedicated to coach crash victims

Belgium’s ambassador to Israel, John Cornet d’Elzius, last week attended a ceremony to dedicate a grove in the Yatir forest to the memory of 22 children and six adults who were killed last March in a coach crash in Sierre, Switzerland, reports the European Jewish Press. The children had been returning home from a ski holiday. He said: “This gesture of KKL-JNF [Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, an NGO responsible for forestation and sustainable development in Israel] dedicating a forest grove in memory of the children touches our hearts deeply and strengthens the bond between the people of Israel and the people of Belgium. Trees have great symbolic value. On behalf of my country, I would like to thank you for this very meaningful way of commemorating the memory of those who were killed in the bus crash.” The ceremony took place at the Neve Ilan Belgian forest, near Jerusalem, though the actual forest grove is in the Yatir forest on the edge of the Negev desert in southern Israel.