The spokesman for Hevron’s Jewish community, Noam Arnon, said building the school on the cemetery site contradicts the Hevron Agreement, signed by former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. That agreement provided terms for transferring much of the city to PA control.
Arnon said that under the agreement, part of the Jewish cemetery was transferred to PA administration on condition that it coordinate any construction in the area with Israel. That clause was added to the agreement in order to preserve security for Jews visiting the cemetery.
Arnon said that building the school will negatively affect the security of tens of thousands of Jewish worshippers and tourists who regularly visit Hevron and the Jewish cemetery there. “Placing a large Arab building adjacent to a site visited by thousands of Jews will exacerbate tensions and endanger Jewish visitors," he said.
Hevron’s Jewish residents submitted a plea to the IDF to stop the construction. Since the Oslo War in September 2000, the IDF has exercised security authority throughout the city. The PA, however, still holds civic authority governing school construction.
The army responded to the request by removing two caravans (temporary mobile structures) set up on the building site by the PA. Arnon praised the IDF’s prompt response. He said the army acted out of pressure from Chabad hassidim from Israel and around the world. Noted rabbis and other prominent individuals affiliated with Chabad are buried in the cemetery.
The cemetery was pillaged and desecrated during the Arab riots of 1929. After falling to the Jordanians during the 1948 War of Independence, Hevron was restored to Israeli control during the 1967 Six Day War. The cemetery was repaired in the 1970’s.
Arnon said that under the reality prevailing in Israel today, “Jews who set up or move a mobile home in Judea and Samaria are arrested, while Arabs can build wherever they want with impunity.”
Arnon said that under the agreement, part of the Jewish cemetery was transferred to PA administration on condition that it coordinate any construction in the area with Israel. That clause was added to the agreement in order to preserve security for Jews visiting the cemetery.
Arnon said that building the school will negatively affect the security of tens of thousands of Jewish worshippers and tourists who regularly visit Hevron and the Jewish cemetery there. “Placing a large Arab building adjacent to a site visited by thousands of Jews will exacerbate tensions and endanger Jewish visitors," he said.
Hevron’s Jewish residents submitted a plea to the IDF to stop the construction. Since the Oslo War in September 2000, the IDF has exercised security authority throughout the city. The PA, however, still holds civic authority governing school construction.
The army responded to the request by removing two caravans (temporary mobile structures) set up on the building site by the PA. Arnon praised the IDF’s prompt response. He said the army acted out of pressure from Chabad hassidim from Israel and around the world. Noted rabbis and other prominent individuals affiliated with Chabad are buried in the cemetery.
The cemetery was pillaged and desecrated during the Arab riots of 1929. After falling to the Jordanians during the 1948 War of Independence, Hevron was restored to Israeli control during the 1967 Six Day War. The cemetery was repaired in the 1970’s.
Arnon said that under the reality prevailing in Israel today, “Jews who set up or move a mobile home in Judea and Samaria are arrested, while Arabs can build wherever they want with impunity.”