The Jews who moved into two empty buildings in the ancient city of Hevron on Thursday will probably be evicted from their new homes, officials said Thursday evening, despite having fully purchased the two buildings from an Arab seller.
Sources close to Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that in order to populate a house in Hevron, it is necessary to act according to law and receive approval for the purchase, have security clearance and also receive approval from the political echelon.
None of the three conditions were met, the sources said, adding that the residents will likely be evacuated from the buildings soon.
The structures in questions are strategically located between the Avraham Avinu neighborhood, where the Jewish presence in the city was reestablished after the city was liberated from Jordanian occupation, and the Cave of Machpelah, where the Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs other than Rachel are buried.
Jews have extreme limitations placed on them in Hevron, both in terms of movement, obtaining building permits and a variety of other rights, with no new residents allowed into the Jewish neighborhoods.
Despite the comments from officials close to the Defense Minister regarding the possible eviction of the new Hevron residents, members of Ya’alon’s Likud party welcomed the purchase on Thursday.
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said, “I back the entrance to the homes purchased by the residents and congratulate them for their important work in expanding and strengthening the Jewish settlement in Hevron.”
“We must help them to realize their right and ensure that the acquisition, which was legal, is implemented in full,” added Levin, who stressed that “Jewish settlement in all parts of the Land of Israel has always been the only answer to Palestinian terrorism, and we must act to expand and strengthen it now more than ever.”
Immigrant Absorption and Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin also welcomed the purchase, saying, “I congratulate the Hevron residents for their firm actions for the expansion of the Jewish presence in the city of the fathers.”
“The homes the residents have entered were bought in full in accordance with the law. I call on the Defense Minister to help the residents as much as he can, and not to submit faced with the pressure of Palestinian rioters. The correct answer to murderous Palestinian terror throughout Zionist history is an expansion of settlement.”
