Liberman praises new Jewish neighborhood in Hebron

"A new Jewish neighborhood in Hebron, for the first time in 20 years!"

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman   (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Minister of Defense Avigdor Liberman on Sunday praised the plan to build a 31-unit housing complex in Jewish neighborhood in the West Bank city of Hebron.
"A new Jewish neighborhood in Hebron, for the first time in 20 years! Instead of a military camp, we will build a new neighborhood, with space for 31 apartments, 2 kindergartens and a dormitory," he wrote in an official statement.
"I thank the prime minister and the ministers who dedicated themselves to the making the Hezkiyahu neighborhood a possibility," Liberman said. "This is yet another important milestone in the extensive activity that we are heading in Judea and Samaria in order to strengthen our settlement."
The project will be located near the city's Shuhadah Street, also known as King David Street, which is now closed to Palestinians and where some six Jewish families live in modular homes next to the Hebron Yeshiva and an IDF base called Plugat Hamitkanim.
The Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria approved the project in 2017. The left-wing NGO Peace Now appealed the decision, and has yet to hear a response from the Civil Administration.
Meretz Chairman Tamar Zandberg commented that "The settlement in Hebron must be evacuated, certainly not expanded."
Calling supporters in the government of the new plan 'pyromaniacs,' she argued that they "inflate the most extreme, dangerous and destructive settlement."
"The state buys a fuel canister to inflame the conflict at the price of 21 million shekels and at the expense of our culture, education and agriculture budgets."
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.