Israel approves new construction in Hebron, first time in 15 years

For the first time in 15 years, Israel approved the building of 31 housing units in the city of Hebron.

The Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration on Monday approved construction of a new Israeli housing project in the city of Hebron.

“I have a great personal commitment to the Jewish settlement in Hebron in particular and to the settlement in Judea and Samaria in general, and we are acting responsibly to increase settlement. We are doing this wisely in spite of the pressure and the objections,” Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman stated, Arutz-7 reported.

The move is seen by some as a response to the vote in July by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to designate Hebron’s Old City and the Cave of the Patriarchs “Palestinian World Heritage Sites.”

“To disassociate Israel from the burial grounds of the patriarchs and matriarchs of our nation is an ugly display of discrimination, and an act of aggression against the Jewish people,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon remarked at the time.

The Jewish neighborhood of Hebron was officially recognized as an Israeli municipality in August.

Hebron’s Palestinian municipality said it will petition against the new construction.

An Israeli counter-terrorism police unit teamed up with the IDF to arrest a terror cell in Hebron several weeks ago. The city is known as a hotbed of Palestinian terror. Most recently it elected Tayseer Abu Sneineh, a terrorist and murderer of six Israelis, as mayor.

By: Adina Katz, World Israel News