An Israeli army rabbi is under investigation for putting a mezuzah up in an off-limits area of Hebron.
The rabbi of the military’s Judea Brigade was photographed this week putting up a mezuzah in the casbah, or old city of Hebron, accompanied by Chabad supporters.
The Hebron casbah, from where many Palestinian residents have fled during the past six years of violence, is off-limits to Israeli civilians out of concern that settlers might try to squat in its buildings.
Many Israelis say casbah properties were originally Jewish-owned and should be reclaimed.
“This gate is one of several gates through which people enter the casbah,” Noam Arnon, a Hebron settler spokesman, told Israel Radio on Thursday. “Chabad wanted to put up a mezuzah, a very welcome act. This, of course, did not bother anyone, particularly not the Arabs.”
Following protests by left-wing Israeli groups, the military top brass said the rabbi was under investigation and that the mezuzah had been removed.
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.
