Ayalon and Michaeli in Hevron
Ayalon and Michaeli in HevronDavid Wilder, Hevron

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and MK Anastasia Michaeli, both of the Israel Our Home party, visited the city of Hevron on Thursday. The visit was warmly welcomed by the Hevron Jewish Community as a positive step in improving the holy city's standing in Israeli public policy efforts.



The visitors, together with an entourage of senior Foreign Ministry officials and Hevron leaders, toured the Jewish parts of the city, including Tel Rumeida, Beit Hadassah, the Avraham Avinu synagogue and neighborhood, and the Cave of the Patriarchs (Me'arat HaMachpela). They also participated in a festive lunch which included discussions of various iniatives in which Hevron's Jewish community and the Foreign Ministry could coordinate.  These included ideas as to how to use the holy and historic Jewish city of Hevron as a springboard for positive public relations for Israel and the Jewish Nation, bringing foreign diplomats on visits to the city, increasing cooperation between the Foreign Ministry and the Jewish pioneers in Hevron, and the like.

At one point in the tour, the Deputy Foreign Minister was asked about TIPH – the Temporary International Presence in Hevron, which has frequented the streets of the city for the past 15 years [http://goo.gl/C1PS] as as international peacekeeping mission. Ayalon made clear that "temporary is supposed to be just that, temporary, not permanent." He emphasized that renewal of the TIPH mandate, which occurs twice a year, should not be taken for granted.

To see other videos of the visit, click here.