Peace House in Hevron (archives)
Peace House in Hevron (archives)Israel news photo: Flash 90

A dozen activists reached the roof of the Hevron Peace House Tuesday night when they skirted around napping policemen, who later woke up and expelled them. Three people were arrested.

The activists said they were protesting the police action that destroyed a Jewish vineyard several hours earlier next to Kiryat Arba. Activist Baruch Marzel, who also is an aide to National Union chairman Knesset Member Yaakov (Ketzaleh) Katz, said that Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu “need to understand that we will react to every destruction at the right place and the right time and embarrass them in front of U.S. President Barack Obama.”

Nationalists have reacted to previous destructions of hilltop communities by rebuilding at the same location or in a new area.

Jews bought the Peace House several years ago and moved last year into the building, located strategically on the road from Kiryat Arba to Hevron, before police expelled them following a long legal battle. High Court judges ruled that the Jews had to leave the building until ownership is decided by a lower court.