Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski presented to the municipality's local planning committee Wednesday his plan for building a secular cemetery in the city that would allow for civil burial.
According to the plan the cemetery will be located within the compound of a new cemetery that will be built in Givat Shaul, and operated by the Menucha Nechona organization, which is dedicated to changing the country's burial culture.
The new cemetery will enable the burial of those who cannot be buried in accordance with Jewish law, or of people who are not interested in a religious burial.
"Jerusalem is a pluralistic city that is committed to allowing each person to choose his way of life and the way he wishes to be buried, without any form of coercion," Lupolianski explained.
According to Yitzhak Hanao, head of the municipality's religious structures administration, the new cemetery is meant to address the current shortage in burial space in the city, and will combine various burial methods, including double burial and burial in catacombs.