Israel: Jews to be uprooted at Abraham's resting place
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Planned evacuation part of deals for upcoming Annapolis summit

Posted: November 21, 2007
News from Israel

JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office informed the
Palestinians that Israel would uproot Jews from a building in the oldest
Jewish city as part of agreements to be announced at next week's
U.S.-sponsored Mideast summit in Annapolis, senior Palestinian
negotiators said.

The building in question, purchased by Jews with the approval of the
Israel Defense Forces, is situated at a strategic, elevated area that
afford Jews in Hebron a lookout post to protect their vulnerable
community from Palestinian attacks.

Hebron is home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the second holiest site in
Judaism. The tomb is believed to be the resting place of the biblical
patriarchs and matriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah.

In March, Hebron's Jewish community purchased a 37,600-square-foot
building it later titled Beit HaShalom, or House of Peace, from local
Arabs for $700,000 in cash, according to documentation. Eight families
moved in to the structure, which the Jews heavily renovated.

The building's purchase papers were immediately transferred to the
Israeli police and IDF. The police confirmed during an initial
investigation the purchase was legitimate. Israel heavily restricts the
expansion of Hebron's Jewish community, located in the West Bank, for
fear of upsetting the Palestinians, who control most of the biblical
territory.

A few weeks after the purchase went through, the former Arab owners of
the Hebron house were arrested by the Palestinian Authority and Jordan,
since selling land to Jews violates Palestinian law.

Upon interrogation, the former owners claimed the sale did not take
place in spite of a video recorded by Hebron Jewish leaders and provided
to Israeli police showing one of the former Arab owners counting
$700,000 in cash handed to him purportedly for the purchase of Beit
Hashalom.

Last month, the former Arab owners, released from PA and Jordanian
detention, filed a complaint with Israel's Supreme Court claiming their
property was stolen. The court ordered the Israeli police to
investigate, but the police have not yet released the results of any
investigation.

Earlier this month, Israel's attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, ordered
the police to evacuate Beit Hashalom's Jewish residents, taking
advantage of a law that allows the Israeli court system to evict any
occupant of a building within 30 days of a dispute in the structure's
ownership. The occupants cannot return until the dispute is resolved.

David Wilder, a spokesperson for Hebron's Jewish community, said that he
was "confident" once the court reviews the case, it would determine the
purchase of Beit Hashalom was "completely legitimate and legal."

"We spent a substantial amount of money to purchase and fix up the
building. We only do these things carefully, with every stage
scrutinized by lawyers and coordinated with the proper Israeli
authorities," said Wilder.

But senior Palestinian negotiators said that they received a list of
what they termed "illegal Jewish outposts" in the West Bank that Olmert
pledged to evacuate, including the Beit Hashalom building.

The Palestinian negotiators said they were told by Olmert's office that
Beit Hashalom was on the top of Olmert's list of pending evacuations.

Olmert's pledges were part of negotiations leading up to next week's
Annapolis summit at which the Israeli prime minister is widely expected
to outline a Palestinian state in most of the West Bank, ultimately
handing the strategic territory to the Palestinians.

Wilder speculated any planned evictions from Hebron would "demonstrate
this area [and all of the West Bank] is on the chopping block and might
be given up by Israel. This is not about the building itself."

Jews have lived in Hebron almost continuously for over 2,500 years.
There are accounts of the trials of the city's Jewish community
throughout the Byzantine, Arab, Mameluke and Ottoman periods.