Hebron’s Jewish community acquired the official status of an independent settlement on Tuesday, some 38-years after returning to live in the West Bank city.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced that the community will no longer be under the auspices of the adjacent Kiryat Arba Council during a briefing he held with reporters in Tel Aviv.
Instead it will now be registered with the interior ministry and the Civil Administration as its own separate legal community.
The move upgrades the status of Hebron’s Jewish community and comes during a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
In July the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization registered Hebron’s old town and the Tomb of the Patriarchs to the State of Palestine on its World Heritage List.
The inscription focuses on preserving the Muslim character of the 3,000 year old city with ties to three monotheistic faiths; Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Most of Hebron’s Jewish community of close to 1,000 people, live in the city’s old town.
The status upgrade also comes as the Defense Ministry is in the midst of fierce negotiations to sway 15 Jewish families in Hebron to peacefully evacuate Beit HaMachpela, a three story apartment building they illegally moved into in July.
The families have worked for the last five years to register their property claim and have provided documentation to show that they purchased it from the Abu Rajab family.
The Rajab family disputes the claim and has filed a petition before the High Court of Justice, asking the court to intervene and force the removal of the Jewish families.