Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu defended the decision to include the Cave of Machpelah (Cave of Patriarchs) and Rachel's Tomb in the list of national heritage sites that will receive preferential treatment. Speaking before the Knesset plenum on Wednesday, he said: “The Cave of Machpelah is one of the first sites in our heritage. How can we not include it [in the list of heritage sites]?”
In a retort to criticism of his decision by Kadima members, Netanyahu related that two members of that party, Chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, MK Tzachi HaNegbi, and MK Shlomo Molla, had also been among the people who implored him to add the two ancient sites to the list.
The Prime Minister said that Israel had already renovated the section of the Cave of Machpelah structure that serves for Muslim worship and that “it is fitting to take the same action for the Jewish side.” The cave is partitioned off into two halls, Ulam Avraham and Ulam Yaakov, which serve Muslims and Jews, respectively.
When MK Uri Orbach (Jewish Home) spoke before the plenum he voiced support for Netanyahu's decision regarding the inclusion of the sites, and said that the move was important “even if we receive unpleasant telephone calls from the Egyptians or from friends in the United States.”
Netanyahu, who was sitting in the plenum, raised his head from the papers before him and told Orbach that until now, no world leader had called him to protest the decision.