Special to WorldTribune.com

JERUSALEM — Israel has approved an additional Jewish residence in
the West Bank city of Hebron.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved a plan to allow Jews to enter
a home bought by Jews in Hebron. The approval was announced on Sept. 22
after the killing of two Israeli soldiers by Palestinians in the West Bank,
one of them a soldier in Hebron.

“Those who try to uproot us from the City of the Patriarchs [Hebron] will achieve the opposite,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to fight terrorism and strike at terrorists on the one hand and strengthen settlement with the other.”

Officials said the decision reflected the dismay of the Israeli government in security cooperation with the Palestinian Authority. They said the PA has been slow in responding to Israeli demands for intelligence on
hostile forces, including those among Palestinian troops.

On Sept. 23, seven Cabinet ministers urged Netanyahu to suspend another
Palestinian prisoner release, expected imminently. The ministers said the PA
has not condemned the killing of the Israeli soldiers.

“In light of the above, we ask you to convene the Cabinet as soon as
possible,” the letter by the ministers said. “This, in order to further
discuss the policy of prisoner release in light of recent developments.”

Netanyahu said his decision would mean the immediate entry of Jews in
the so-called Machpelah House. The building, located next to the Cave of the
Patriarchs, was said to have been bought by Jews in 2012, but the Israeli
military blocked entry.

Since then, Palestinians have squatted in the yard of the building, sold
by a Palestinian sentenced to death by the PA. The military did not move to
expel the Palestinians.

The government has also been pressed to allow Jews to enter another
building purchased nearly a decade ago. In 2012, a Jerusalem court ruled
that the Jewish purchase of the building, called Bet Hashalom, was valid.
The Jews, expelled in 2008, have not been allowed to return pending an
appeal by the Palestinians.

  Benjamin Netanyahu, Bet Hashalom, Machpelah House, Netanyahu: Terrorists won’t ‘uproot’ Jews from Hebron, West Bank