Smotrich says he’s ‘abolished Hebron agreement,’ given Israel more power in flashpoint city |
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claimed on Tuesday to have “abolished” components of the 1997 Hebron agreement that gave the Palestinian municipal council of Hebron authority over planning, zoning and construction in the H2 zone of the West Bank city, where the Jewish settlement of Hebron is located along with the Tomb of the Patriarchs.
The Palestinian Authority denounced the step, saying it violated agreements signed with Israel, and called on the US to intervene. The Foreign Ministry also issued a statement, denying that the agreement had been “canceled.”
The move marks the latest step in efforts by the far-right minister to undermine the agreements reached between Israel and the PA in his bid to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state and to see Israel extend its sovereignty over the entire West Bank.
“Yesterday we annulled the Hebron Accords,” declared Smotrich at a dedication ceremony for the establishment of Doran, a new settlement in the Mount Hebron region of the southern West Bank, in reference to the new legal regime in the H2 zone.
“For many years, one of the most absurd clauses of the Oslo accords remained in place, in which authority over the Jewish settlement in Hebron and the holy sites were dependent on the terrorist municipality of Hebron. Yesterday we put an end to that,” he said.
The accords had been signed in a bid to install a compromise order in Hebron, one of the most complex cities in the West Bank, where a community of several hundred Jewish Israelis is almost completely surrounded by some 200,000 Palestinians. It is also home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs holy site. Both Hebron and the tomb have been frequent flashpoints for violence.
Smotrich added that the decision was part of the government’s broader effort to legalize illegal settlement outposts and “deepen Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.”
According to the ultranationalist minister, “the State of Israel” will now have authority over administrative matters in H2. The finance minister did not say which Israeli agency will now have authority over such issues, while his spokesman said merely that the........