Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, together with his Deputy, Dalia Rabi-Pelosoff, visited Hevron yesterday; Hevron spokesman Noam Arnon later said, \"Our only request was that the army take over Abu Sneineh. We showed him the Hevron Agreement, which states that Abu Sneineh must be a security zone, and that there must be an Israeli patrol presence there to prevent shooting attacks upon us; that clause is simply not being implemented... Ben-Eliezer said that the army would do everything to maintain our security, but did not answer us directly about Abu Sneineh.\"
On March 29, three days after ten-month-old Shalhevet Pass was murdered by a Palestinian sniper from the Abu Sneineh hills in Hevron, President Moshe Katzav wrote the following letter to Rabbi Hillel Horowitz of the Jewish Community in Hevron:
Greetings. I thank you for your letter and your good wishes, and I am happy to send my greetings in honor of the Holiday of Freedom and the Holiday of Independence to those who are renewing the Jewish presence in Hevron and to all the residents of the City of the Patriarchs.
You are experiencing a difficult period, involving great personal danger. You are deserving of great praise for your strong stand during this difficult hour, and I praise you for your cooperation with the security forces.
The entire nation shares in your heavy sorrow on the tragedy you experienced with the terrible murder of the baby Shalhevet Pass, of blessed memory. We all pray that you know no further sorrow, and that \"the Nation of Israel will live in safety.\"
I call upon you to take action to prevent small and marginal groups from harming the security forces and the Arabs.
Your dedication on behalf of national and historic values, and on behalf of the Nation of Israel, is a special model for all, and the pioneer spirit that rings within you strengthens the spiritual power of the Nation.
Hevron, the City of Patriarchs, where the foundations of Israel\'s spiritual and political tradition were laid, has always been, throughout the generations, a focus of attraction and longing for the Jewish People. Jews always lived here, except when pogroms drove them away.
The Jewish Community of Hevron was re-established with the support of the governments of Israel, with belief that there could be Jewish-Arab co-existence in the City of Patriarchs with mutual respect and respect for the rights of one another.
I would like to encourage you during this difficult hour of security tensions, and please transmit my feelings of admiration to the residents of the city and participants in your entire enterprise.
Wishing you a Kosher and Happy Passover,
(President) Moshe Katzav
On March 29, three days after ten-month-old Shalhevet Pass was murdered by a Palestinian sniper from the Abu Sneineh hills in Hevron, President Moshe Katzav wrote the following letter to Rabbi Hillel Horowitz of the Jewish Community in Hevron:
Greetings. I thank you for your letter and your good wishes, and I am happy to send my greetings in honor of the Holiday of Freedom and the Holiday of Independence to those who are renewing the Jewish presence in Hevron and to all the residents of the City of the Patriarchs.
You are experiencing a difficult period, involving great personal danger. You are deserving of great praise for your strong stand during this difficult hour, and I praise you for your cooperation with the security forces.
The entire nation shares in your heavy sorrow on the tragedy you experienced with the terrible murder of the baby Shalhevet Pass, of blessed memory. We all pray that you know no further sorrow, and that \"the Nation of Israel will live in safety.\"
I call upon you to take action to prevent small and marginal groups from harming the security forces and the Arabs.
Your dedication on behalf of national and historic values, and on behalf of the Nation of Israel, is a special model for all, and the pioneer spirit that rings within you strengthens the spiritual power of the Nation.
Hevron, the City of Patriarchs, where the foundations of Israel\'s spiritual and political tradition were laid, has always been, throughout the generations, a focus of attraction and longing for the Jewish People. Jews always lived here, except when pogroms drove them away.
The Jewish Community of Hevron was re-established with the support of the governments of Israel, with belief that there could be Jewish-Arab co-existence in the City of Patriarchs with mutual respect and respect for the rights of one another.
I would like to encourage you during this difficult hour of security tensions, and please transmit my feelings of admiration to the residents of the city and participants in your entire enterprise.
Wishing you a Kosher and Happy Passover,
(President) Moshe Katzav