Israel -- The King Gets A Shrine In Holy Land

ABU GHOSH, Israel - In the Holy Land, there are monuments to King David, King Herod and of course, the King of Kings. But in Abu Ghosh, on the highway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, is a little-known shrine to The King - the Boy From Tupelo, the Man From Memphis.

Elvis.

An acolyte of The King has turned a nondescript truck stop into the Middle East's best museum dedicated to Elvis Presley. But then, it's the only museum in the Middle East dedicated to Elvis Presley.

"I created this place because I love the man and his music and I wanted to share it with everyone else. He is the world's biggest star," says Uri Yoeli, owner of the Elvis Inn Restaurant and Petrol Station.

To find Yoeli and his shrine, turn off Highway 1 in Abu Ghosh, a now-quiet Jerusalem suburb that was the scene of fierce fighting during the 1948 and 1967 Middle East wars.

Climbing the hill, you see what looks like any other gas station on the well-traveled 59-mile route linking Israel's two most important cities.

Then you see him. Glinting in the afternoon sun. A 30-foot-high white Fiberglas statue of Elvis, circa 1958, with a 4-foot-tall white guitar.

"I think it may be the largest in the world," Yoeli says. "I am sure it is the largest in all of Israel. It cost me $10,000, U.S."

"Hound Dog" and "Teddy Bear" blare across the parking lot. Truck and taxi drivers pump gas into their vehicles under the benign visage of the colossal King.

Inside is an air-conditioned restaurant where every inch of space is filled with more than 700 photos of Presley. Elvis with Col. Tom Parker. Elvis with big shades on the set of "Blue Hawaii" . . .

Like the ages of man, Elvis' images chronicle his rise and decline. A young smiling Elvis in black leather with a banged-up acoustic guitar. Elvis in the Army. Elvis mugging in "Speedway." A bloated Elvis trundling across the stage at the Las Vegas Hilton just before his death.

There are 45 rpm records tacked to the walls, Elvis concert tickets in frames. Yellowing copies of the National Enquirer speculating on how Elvis died in 1977, then later on that he might still be alive.

Then there are some pictures of a guy who looks like Elvis. An impersonator. It's Yoeli.

"Yes, I have had the honor to play The King a few times."

Yoeli does a brisk business in Elvis memorabilia - pins, buttons, postcards of the fiberglass King. An occasional tour bus rumbles up to the doorway, disgorging passengers - usually Europeans - who gawk at Yoeli's collection while lunching on schwarma and Yemenite delights.

Elvis has been dead for 18 years, but Yoeli's restaurant-cum-shrine just gets more popular: "He may be dead, but the memory of The King lives on in people's hearts."