Permission granted for Israelis to live in Beit HaMachpela

After ten years, it seems that full permission has finally be granted
for Israelis to live in the Beit HaMachpela building located across near the Tomb
of Machpela in Hebron.

 

The four-story complex, located behind the main parking lot outside the Tomb of the
Patriarchs and Matriarchs has been to focus of numerous legal battles for Israelis to be
able to purchase property in the city.

 

Even after the monetary transaction, legal hurdles included extra permissions from
various government authorities. On Sunday, the IDF Civil Administration, the military
body that has jurisdiction over civilian life in Judea and Samaria, ruled that at least
half the building can be occupied by the purchasers, the Jerusalem
Post reported.

 

Minister of Transportation Bezalel Smotrich praised the move stating it was “a
tremendous joy” to see Jewish people returning to the city of the Patriarchs. “A true
salute to all those involved in expanding the Jewish settlement in the oldest Hebrew
city in the world,” he said. Smotrich added “it’s a deep shame that it took so
long.”

 

Harhivi Makom Ohalech, the organization which conducted the real estate transaction and
purchased then then-vacant building, praised the move, noting it came the same week as
the 90th anniversary of the infamous Hebron massacre which resulted in the expulsion of
all Jews from Hebron.

 

The Palestinian Authority resident who arranged the sale of the property, Muhammad Abu
Shahala, was arrested for the crime of selling land to Jews. He was sentenced to death,
and has been in prison ever since. The Jewish Community of Hebron sent a petition to the
United Nations pleading for a stay of execution.

 

At one time, the Abu Rajab clan of Hebron had occupied the building but it sat vacant
for years before the sale. Various family members have since publicly claimed that no
sale had taken place.

 

In 2013 the Military Appeals Committee accepted an appeal and determined that the Jewish
purchasers registration process did indeed meet threshold conditions.

 

In June 2017, the Appeals Committee again determined in favor of the Jewish purchasers
stating the Preliminary Registration Committee erred in a series of errors and
ostensibly ignored key documents they received. It was decided to return the
hearing to the First Registration Committee to review all the documents in the
case.

 

About 100 people — 15 families, moved in and lived there for eight months, but
were forced out in March 2018 as the Abu Rajab family took the case back to court. The
residents had previously been evicted in 2012.

 

The Times of Israel reported families comprising
about 40 residents moved into the Machpela House building “in celebratory
fashion on Sunday, decking the building with Israeli flags.”

 

This is not the first time the court system has upheld the law in the case of Israelis
seeking to live in Hebron. In July 2019, the Supreme Court ruled not to use the IDF to
evict Israeli residents from Beit Rachel and Beit Leah. The two vacant structures were
legally purchased from the Za’atari family, residents of the Palestinian Authority, who
later argued they never sold the property.

 

The petitioners did not prove that they legally possessed the property prior to the
Israeli residents entering the buildings, the court ruled.

 

In 2007, Israelis first moved into Beit HaShalom, a large structure on the road from
Kiryat Arba into Hebron. It was purchased for over 1 million US dollars by a
Jewish-American businessman with family ties to the pre-1929 Hebron community.
Allegations of forged deeds and other excuses were eventually rejected by the same
Supreme Court that ordered the eviction of the residents in 2008. Today, the structure
has permanent residents and a small hospitality area for IDF soldiers.

 

Another plot of land in contention is the old wholesale market, located at the entrance
to the Avraham Avinu neighborhood. Although the land was purchased by Jews in 1807, the
structures that now exist were built by the Jordanians in the 1960s. Last week,
Jewish residents in Hebron launched a campaign to allow new construction to take
place.

 

 

* SETTLERS
CLAIM TO HEBRON’S BEIT HAMACHPELA STRENGTHENED

* Jews enter Beit
HaMachpela – “Both a joy, and a shame”

* Entry
of Jews to Machpela House Approved

* Jews
return to Beit HaMachpela in Hebron

* More than a decade after
purchase, Jewish families return to Hebron home

* Settlers
enter disputed Hebron home after legal win

 

SEE ALSO:

 

* Arab
seller of Machpela House sentenced to death

* Jewish Life Returns
to Beit HaMachpela (2017)

* Jewish Life Returns
to Beit Rachel & Beit Leah

* Frivolous Case
against Hebron Jews thrown out by Supreme Court

* Beit HaShalom –
Success Story in Jewish Repatriation to Hebron

* History of Mitzpe
Shalhevet / Wholesale Market in Hebron

* Historic justice
for the Jews of Hebron

 

VISIT HEBRON TODAY!