Jewish Hebron officially recognized as Israeli municipality, after 38 years

A Jewish man in Hebron, Israel. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

The Israeli sections of the historically Jewish town of Hebron have been officially registered as an Israeli district.

While Jewish roots in Hebron date back literally to the time of Abraham in the biblical era, the modern state of Israel announced on Tuesday that sections of the town will officially be recognized as an Israeli municipality. The move comes 38 years after Jews returned to the area, from which most Jews fled in 1929 after local Arabs carried out a massacre that claimed the lives of close to 70 Jewish men, women and children, wounding scores of other Jews.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced the decision on Tuesday, clarifying the fact that the Jewish community in Hebron will no longer be dependent on the Palestinian Authority’s Hebron municipality. Instead, the Israeli Hebron Municipal Committee will be authorized to hold and purchase land, in addition to entering into contracts and tenders, reported Arutz Sheva.

The shift arrives against the backdrop of a three-day visit by Antonio Guterres, who serves as Secretary General of an organization, the United Nations, whose Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recently approved bizarre declarations that deny Jewish connection to Israeli holy sites in cities such as Hebron and Jerusalem.

In addition to Guterres’ visit, Hebron is also currently the focus of an ongoing battle between Israelis whose purchase of land from Arab sellers is now the subject of a legal dispute in which those sellers are now denying that the sale took place. A court is currently trying to force the Israelis to vacate the property.

By: World Israel News Staff

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