Cave of the Patriarchs, Hevron
Cave of the Patriarchs, HevronIsrael News Photo: (file)

Spokesman Noam Arnon of Hevron's Jewish community criticized on Thursday government plans to transfer control of Hevron to the Palestinian Authority (PA). He was speaking to crowds that arrived to visit the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the biblical Jewish city.

Referring to terrorist sniper attacks, Arnon said, "We remember how they fired at us from the hill opposite [from where I'm standing]. We won't give it to you. Hevron is Jewish and we see just how Jewish Hevron is."

Addressing the government, Arnon said, "We demand, in the name of the fathers, the mothers, the sons and the daughters, don't you dare do this. The people of Israel have proved that they are…connected to Hevron."

Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai, head of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, and Colonel Udi Ben-Muha, commander of the Judea Brigade, will meet early next week with their Palestinian Authority counterparts to finalize a date for a 35 percent increase to the 2,000 strong PA police force in the city, according to a report published Friday in The Jerusalem Post. Next Wednesday, Likud MK Gilad Erdan is expected to tour the city to gather information on the matter.

The decision to permit the deployment of the additional 700 officers was made by Central District Commander Gadi Shamni. It was intended to bolster PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah faction against Hamas, but Orit Struck of the Judea and Samaria Human Rights Group says that the presence of more armed Arabs is dangerous no matter which faction they belong to. She added there are those in the Israeli army who agree with the Jews of Hevron, the southern Hevron Hills and Gush Etzion in their opposition to the move.

Struck pointed with concern to Thursday's disclosure that several hundred kilograms of explosives and weapons were found and removed by PA forces from a tunnel they discovered on Monday before informing the Israel Defense Forces. The IDF destroyed the tunnel on Tuesday.