–The army today evicted about 40 members of the Gush Emunim from a building in Hebron they occupied earlier in the day and refused to leave despite a direct appeal from Premier Menachem Begin. The squatters offered no resistance and indicated that their action was symbolic inasmuch as it coincided with the first anniversary of the killing of yeshiva student Yehoshua Salmoa in the Hebron market place.
Ownership of the building is claimed by the Lubavitcher Hasidim and it is reportedly registered in the name of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menahem Schneerson of New York, He is said to have authorized the Gush Emunim to seize if for Jewish use. The original Arab tenants were evicted last May after the ambush slaying of six yeshiva students by terrorists in Hebron.
The “Schneerson building” is adjacent to the old Hadassah building which has been occupied by Gush Emunim women and children from nearby Kiryat Arba for some two years. Observers here saw a connection between the seizure of the building and the occupation of a hilltop north of Jerusalem by militant settlers Sunday. The settlers left voluntarily on Tuesday after the government promised to speed up the construction of a town on the site.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
