Senior Rabbis Visit Demolished Hilltop Outpost, Pledge It Will Become a Jewish Community

A delegation of senior rabbis from the Land of Israel Rabbis Settlement Committee visited Beit Anot, in the Mount Hebron area, on Friday, one day after the Civil Administration demolished the homes of three families there. The destruction left the residents without shelter, and the rabbis came to offer support and express backing for the Jewish presence at the site.

Among those present were Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Schwartz, the chief rabbi of Kiryat Arba, Rabbi Noam Waldman, head of the Nir hesder yeshiva, and Rabbi Yinon Klein, rabbi of the Givat Asaf settlement. Schwartz said the visit was intended to protest what he called the violent demolition and to strengthen the families who continue to hold the place.

Speaking in the name of the rabbis' committee, Schwartz said, “We are here this morning, three rabbis, like a rabbinical court, and we say here before the public that a Jewish settlement will yet rise in this place.” He added that the hilltop is “an extremely important strategic point for settlement,” stressing its national and security significance.

Schwartz also urged the residents not to be discouraged by pressure from the security establishment, saying that those opposing the hilltop now “come and move on after a short time,” while “you remain here forever.” He called for Beit Anot to be formally legalized and turned into a thriving Jewish city.