Defense Minister Ehud Barak has given the green light for a yeshiva in the Beit Romano neighborhood of Hevron to add a new dormitory to its present building, Hevron Jewish leaders said. Yeshiva rabbi Hananel Etrog said that Barak's predecessor Amir Peretz had refused to authorize the construction.

Beit Romano was built in the 19th century and today is the home to the Shavei Hevron yeshiva, where 250 students learn. The Defense Ministry emphasized that the permit to build is based on decade-old plans to expand the present facility and is not a new building, which would contradict the building freeze demanded by American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.