New Jewish neighborhood to be built in Hebron, Bennett says

Newly installed Defense Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday announces his approval for planning of a new Jewish neighborhood in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron, in a decision that is quickly praised by the right and bashed by the left.

On Sunday, the defense minister’s office says in a statement that Bennett had ordered the relevant offices within the Israel Defense Forces to inform the Hebron municipality that planning was starting for the new neighborhood near the city’s old market.

The area of that market has been under Jewish ownership since the early 19th century. Local Jews fled following the 1929 massacre in which some 65 Jews were murdered by Arab mobs. After Israel gained control of the city in 1967, it approved the construction of a Palestinian market that was active until the 1990s.

The statement says the neighborhood will double the number of Jewish settlers in the city, and create Jewish “territorial continuity” between the existing Avraham Avinu neighborhood and the Tomb of the Patriarchs holy site.

“The market’s buildings will be demolished and new stores will be built instead,” the statement says. “The rights of Palestinians on the ground floor will be preserved as they are today.”

Bennett made the decision following a series of discussions with the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories and the Civil Administration — which serves as the military liaison to Palestinians — as well as the Shin Bet and other security officials, the statement adds.

— Michael Bachner