JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett approved the planning of a new Jewish neighborhood in the West Bank city of Hebron.
The neighborhood would double the number of Jews living in Hebron, according to the Defense Ministry, from about 1,000 in small enclaves amid some 215,000 Palestinians.
It will be built near the city’s old market, which has been owned by Jews since the early 1800s. A Palestinian market operated there first under the Jordanians, and then with Israel’s permission between 1967 and the 1990s.
The market buildings will be rebuilt and remain in Palestinian hands, The Jerusalem Post reported, citing the Defense Ministry. The property above the buildings on the ground floor must be “returned to Jewish hands,” the newspaper reported, citing a statement by Bennett’s spokesperson.
A massacre in Hebron in 1929 left 67 Jews dead and led to the evacuation of Jews from the city. Jews resettled there after the 1967 Six-Day War.
Bennett was named defense minister earlier this month by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who previously held the portfolio.
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