For Jews, the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and the Tomb of Rachel in Bethlehem were declared by Prime Minister Netanyahu to be in need of refurbishment. This inspired much reaction from the leader of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas.
Hebron is a site revered by Jews, Christians and Arabs, primarily for being the putative resting place of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. King David also ruled from Hebron for seven years before uniting the Kingdom of Israel with the conquering of Jerusalem. Christians also believed it to possibly be the birthplace of John the Baptist. The city remains one of the Four Holy Cities.
While Arabs similarly venerate this shrine as the place of Abraham’s burial, they are resentful that the Jewish military takes it upon themselves to guard the site, and even more so that the Jewish government plans to renovate the site.
Unfortunately this statement has sparked a new clash as Palestinians have taken to the streets in resentment. It does not help that the respective leaders of Palestine and Israel have further repudiated the standing of each other with regard to these sites.
One wonders at how these two men could have addressed the issue similarly instead of immediately taking opposing sides, if at all.
