Smotrich Says Israel Has Revoked the Hebron Accords’ Planning Powers

At a ceremony marking the new settlement of Doran in the Har Hevron area, Finance Minister and Defense Ministry Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Tuesday that Israel had completed a “historic” step to cancel the planning and construction arrangements that had been granted to Hebron’s municipality under the Hebron Accords.

According to the article, the move followed a cabinet decision initiated by Smotrich and approved several months ago. On Monday night, the High Planning Council in Judea and Samaria adopted the remaining decisions needed to finish implementing it, removing all planning and construction authority from the Hebron municipality.

The practical effect is that planning powers for the Jewish community in Hebron and for holy sites, including the Cave of the Patriarchs, are no longer under the control of Hebron’s municipality and have returned to full Israeli responsibility. Smotrich said, “Yesterday we canceled the Hebron Accords. For many years one of the most absurd clauses of Oslo remained in place, while powers relating to the Jewish community in Hebron and the holy sites were dependent on the terror municipality of Hebron. Yesterday we put an end to it.”

He added that this is “much more than a planning step,” calling it “a historic correction” and saying Israel is continuing “the revolution of regulating settlement, strengthening governance and deepening Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.”