Supreme Court Case Clears Path for New Hebron Homes

(Image above: Architectural rendering of new Hezekiah Quarter,
Hebron.)

(Image below: Rabbi Haim Hezekiah Medini)

 

The Israeli Supreme Court has rejected a petition against a construction
project on the Israeli side of Hebron, clearing a legal hurdle for rebuilding the
Hezekiah quarter. This is the first new housing approved in 17 years.

 

Rabbi Haim Hezekiah
Medini, for whom the new neighborhood is named, completed his Talmudic
encyclopedia the Sdei Hemed there between the years 1901-1904.

The 31-unit apartment complex will be on a plot of land next to the Beit Romano building, built in
1879 by Hayyim Yisrael Romano, where Rabbi Medini once had a study center. The
building and adjacent land was later sold to the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi
Sholom Dovber Schneersohn of the Chabad movement in 1912 where
they had a yeshiva. Today the building houses the Shavei Hebron
yeshiva.

The plot of land where the construction of the new housing units is currently taking
place was turned into a bus depot during the Jordanian period of 1948 –
1967.

Since 1997 the city has been divided with the Palestinian Authority controlling 80% and
Israel controlling 20%. Israeli civilians are permitted access to the Israeli
neighborhoods in that 20% which encompasses the old city and the Tomb of the Patriarchs
and Matriarchs. The land in question is located on the Israeli side.

 

The PA-run Hebron Municipality and the Peace Now group filed suit against the new
construction in the Israeli Supreme Court. Both entities are opposed to any Israeli
presence in the city. They charged that according to a construction plan for the area
dating back to 1945 during the British Mandate era new buildings can only be nine meters
high with only two floors, while the new apartment complex would be 24 meters high
consisting of six floors.

The Hebron Municipality also charged that only they have the authority to issue permits
in the city, both on the PA side and the Israeli side.

Judge Yosef Elron, Judge Alex Stein and Judge Shaul Shohat rejected their claims. They
noted that the Hebron Municipality has refused to accept requests from Israelis. They
also noted that there are clauses in the British Mandate era plan allowing for
deviations and that the PA has built numerous buildings over 2 floors high. “It cannot
be said that the planning institutions exceeded their authority, acted in bad faith or
acted in extreme unreasonableness,” the court stated. 

 

The court further stated that the IDF Civil Administration which oversees the
Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria has the power to issue building permits. The
court ordered both the Hebron Municipality and Peace Now to pay 10,000 NIS each to the
State of Israel and the Jewish Community of Hebron.

The building project which is currently underway has gone through multiple court
battles.

 

Dr. Noam Arnon, spokesperson for the Jewish community of Hebron stated that it was the
end of a lengthy legal process “designed to try to prevent Jews in Hebron the basic
human right — to build a house.” He added that it was unfair that residents of the PA
have built countless apartment complexes, shopping malls and other
buildings while the Israeli residents are restricted by “mere fabricated
claims.”

“It is time to remove this national disgrace from the city of forefathers and mothers,
the foundation of our existence and identity in Israel,” he said.

 

 

* Full
text of court decision (in Hebrew)

* High
Court approves a 31-unit settler apartment complex in Hebron – Jerusalem
Post

* Top
court rejects appeal against construction of new Jewish neighborhood in Hebron
– Times of Israel

* New
Jewish Settlement in Hebron Gets Green Light From Israel’s Top Court –
Haaretz

* Supreme
Court Rejects Peace Now Petition Against New Jewish Neighborhood in Old Hebron
– Jewish Press

* Construction
of contested Hebron compound has begun – Jerusalem Post Oct.
2021

 

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