“We are with you!”, the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem not only give witness to history and the past, but also speak about the present. Yesterday they were illuminated with the colors of the Italian flag to show solidarity for the coronavirus epidemic that killed 368 people in the 24 hours of Sunday, March 15, 2020 alone.

The mayor of Jerusalem Moshe Lion expressed condolences to the Italian people during the coronavirus pandemic on Sunday, the walls of the Old City were lit with the colors of the Italian flag in a show of support for the nation most affected by COVID-19 after China. Lion wished health to the Italian people and to everyone in Israel and around the world. Rome and Jerusalem have a long common history, one of the founding texts of modern Zionism is the 1862 work of Moses Hess Rome and Jerusalem in which he framed the Jewish question within the framework of modern European nationalism, including the Italian one.

A similar gesture was recorded in the Municipality of Petach Tikva, in the center of Israel, where the City Hall was illuminated with the Italian flag.

The coronavirus to date has killed more than 6,500 people worldwide and infected over 169,000, according to an estimate by Johns Hopkins University, which is monitoring cases reported by the WHO and other sources.
While mainland China has reported 16 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 14 new deaths since Sunday, there are now more cases outside of China than inside. In Italy, according to the Civil Protection Department of the country, the total number of deaths is 1,809, reaching 24,747 cases, an increase of 3,590 new cases recorded in 24 hours.

Have Faith, Not Fear