Foreign Ministry Says Hebron Agreement Remains in Force After Smotrich Claims

Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday issued an urgent clarification after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the Hebron Agreement had been canceled. The ministry said that is not true, and that the political agreement signed in 1997 remains in force as the official policy of the Israeli government.

According to the ministry, the only step taken in recent months was a narrow Cabinet decision limited to planning and building authority in the Jewish community in Hebron and at Jewish heritage sites in the city. It said the move was prompted by years of complete lack of cooperation from Hebron’s municipality, which had blocked any progress on these issues, and was meant to allow proper administration and development of the sites under Jewish responsibility.

Smotrich had said earlier Tuesday, at a ceremony announcing the new settlement of Doran in the Hebron Hills, that overnight all planning and building powers had been removed from Hebron’s municipality under the Hebron Agreement. He said the step followed a Cabinet decision approved months ago, and that the Higher Planning Council finalized the process the night before. His office said the implications are that planning and building authority in the Jewish community in Hebron and at holy sites, including the Cave of the Patriarchs, is no longer held by Hebron’s municipality and is now under Israeli state control.

The ministry emphasized that no other changes were made to the agreement, which still defines the city’s division into H1 under Palestinian control and H2 under Israeli security control. It said the clarification was intended to prevent an unnecessary diplomatic crisis with Israel’s allies, who view the agreement as a cornerstone of stability in Judea and Samaria.