Orthodox Jews Defy Military Government, Continue Hebron Resettlement Celebrations

Orthodox Jews who defied Israel Military Government orders a year ago and established the first Jewish settlement in Hebron since members of the ancient Jewish community there were driven from their homes in the 1936 Arab riots continued today their clandestine celebrations of the first anniversary of the resettlement. Hebron is one of the five holy cities of Palestine and Jews had lived there uninterruptedly from Biblical days until the 1936 riots. It is the site of the Tomb of the Patriarchs. A number of youngsters defied Defense Ministry orders forbidding celebrations in the occupied areas and slipped into Hebron to join the Orthodox group. They held an anniversary celebration in an abandoned building.

The steering committee of the Land of Israel movement–an organization seeking the incorporation into Israel of all the territory occupied in the Six-Day War–held a meeting in the settlers’ compound today and voted to establish a development corporation to function in what they called the liberated areas. At Kfar Etzion, in the West Bank area, where there is now a Nahal settlement on the site of the Jewish settlement complex that fell to the Arabs on the eve of the 1948 liberation war, two conventions were held, one of youths from the various political parties, and the second of youths representing the Jewish settlements in the Israeli-held areas. The latter group voted to set up an organization to recruit and screen candidates for settlement in the occupied areas.