(Sanitized)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00825R000300100001-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 56
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 5, 1999
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: September 1, 1973
• Content Type: REPORT

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NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Israeli-Arab Conflict
in the Holy City of Hebron
Secret
CIA/BGI RP 74-6
September 1973
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W!' A..R I`,' N G
r
'I` is document contaLru, infonu-,ition afff!rrtinrr the national
~reftat~ze z':: flh f, iinited, S a(s' , ~ A,71, thy r anin of Title
18, sectio-is 79'3 and 794_ of the US Cade, as attended.
Its transmission or revelation of its contents to or re-
ceipt by an uuau0ju,ite; p r;,o:f is prohibited by law.
Classified by 019641. Exempt from general
declassifization schedule of EN116, ex-
emption category: SB(1),(2),(3ec1ossifica-
tion date impossible to determine.
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Summary and Conclusions .
Jewish Presence . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
Kiryat Arba . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7
Arab Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
Mosque Dispute . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13
Appendix: Abbreviated Chronology of MachpeZah Cave and
AZ Harm al Ibrahirni aZ Khalil
Map A: The West Bank . . Frontispiece
Map B: Hebron . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
.plan of Al Haram . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
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Map A
The West Bank
10 20
Miles
Ro3 zurim
All. Shivut
alia prince Abdallah
JeF alem " ~ bridge
mrum Cave Moshav
`gar r d a n
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Ezyon
iebron'
?Kiryat'Ar
?Nablus
aligilva Hama
Nahul fir: aen
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Israeli-accupiddllgal .'
t{anl ? y' r
Allah
Allenby
CZ r bridge
Ls.. r a e I
H-NND
No, NI
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Central Intelligence Agency
Directorate of Intelligence
September 1973
ISRAELI-ARAB CONFLICT IN THE HOLY CITY OF HEBRON
Summary and Conclusions
In all the occupied territories Israeli authorities
face few problems more sensitive than those of the city
of Hebron and its Cave of Machpelah, sacred to both Jews
and Moslems. It is a pious belief that Isaac, ancestor
of the Jews, and Ishmael, ancestor of the Arabs, together
buried their father Abraham in the cave. This holy place
is enclosed by a high stone-wall structure, Al Haram al
Ibrahimi al Khalil, which contains the 12th-century Mosque
of Abraham. Jews, excluded from the Haram during Ottoman
times, gained access after the June 1967 War. An over-
joyed Israeli Army Rabbinate Unit seized the Haram and
opened it for Israeli sightseeing and Jewish worship.
Later that year a "sharing arrangement," signed by the
Israeli military, guaranteed the joint use of the area by
Jews and Moslems.
In April 1968 a few Orthodox families moved into
rented rooms of an Arab hotel in Hebron, ostensibly
to celebrate Passover but actually to establish a Jewish
community in the city despite the stated disapproval of
the Israeli Government. This settlement attempt caused
sharp debate within the coalition Cabinet. Although
establishing civilian settlements in an occupied territory
Continents and questions may be directed to
of the Office of Basic and Geographic Intelligence, Code 143,
Extension 2886.
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25X1A
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is illegal according to international law, the Israeli
Cabinet, which included minority supporters of the
settlement, compromised its offical position by allowing
the settlers to stay. Under continuous pressure from
the right-wing and religious parties, the Government
in 1970 seized 825 acres of Arab land and began building
the first apartments of a permanent settlement, named
Kiryat Arba, the Biblical name for Hebron.
After its quiet surrender in 1967, Hebron has been an
occasionally tense but generally peaceful city under Israeli
occupation. Sheikh Jabari, the mayor, convinced of the
futility of fighting, continues to lead his people in non-
violent protests. However, the Kiryat Arba settlers have
insisted upon several changes in the "sharing arrangement"
of the mosque -- each in their favor -- and continue to
ask for more Arab land for expansion, despite previous
large seizures. These actions indicate to the Arabs the
impossibility of amicable coexistence: the Israeli actions
are hauntingly similar to the ancient Arab fable of the
camel who moved gradually into his master's tent -- and
moved the master out.
Kiryat Arba is one of about 18 Israeli settlements,
many of which are now civilian, in the occupied West Bank.
Although it is an Israeli urban center built in the spirit
of the Allon Plan,* the reason for its creation was neither
strategic nor economic but rather Hebron's significance as
a holy city of Judaism. It is important primarily to the
Orthodox segment of the Israeli population, many of whom
want to live in the holy city.
It appears that the Kiryat Arba/Hebron area will remain
in Israeli hands, that Kiryat Arba will probably increase in
population and industrial strength, and that Al Haram al
Ibrahimi al Khalil will become more a synagogue and less a
mosque. Should there be any peace negotiations, the new "facts"
now being created on the Hebron landscape -- settlement pat-
tern, economic investment, and population composition --
cannot help but influence these negotiations.
* Interim plan presented by cabinet member Yigal Alton in 1967
for dealing with problems imposed by Israel's acquisition of
Arab territories during the Z967 war. See The AZZon Plan,
CIA/BGI GM 69-4, 25 February 2969.
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NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Jewish Presence
1. The ancient city of Hebron (Al Khalil in Arabic)
lies about 20 miles south of Jerusalem in the Biblical
Valley of Eschol. Associated with Abraham, King David,
and other Old Testament people and events, Hebron is
identified as one of the four holy cities of Israel,
mentioned in the Ta] w;d with Jerusa! ern Sated , and
F
NMI
t' i t,, ~ , (-I Ile E~w re t:u r"r "P. rori,t
ct d 1 i 'J e (~ Z n ne t"~ r Ci n ~t fE'?. I (f ,C:
i)
exile in Babylon unt-VI the Arab riots in 1929.
2f . In modern titre ,, the Hebron Jews had existed as
a smfal 1 minority with i n a separate c ,LIarter? of the ol d ci t.y
i n 1917 the British Government counted 757 Jews livino in
Hebron -- about 3 percent of the total population. After
World War 1, Hebron and other ci ti r in Pal esti ner becarm?a
Figure 1. The stone wall structure of Al Haram al Ibrahimi al Khalil in
northeastern Hebron is believed to enclose the area above the sealed Cave
of Machpelah, also known as the Tomb of the Patriarchs. The stone wall,
surrounding an area about 200 feet by 112 feet, dates from the Herodian
period.
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centers of Arab nationalistic feeling and the scenes of
protests and riots against Jewish immigration. Following
riots in 1929, in which many Jews were killed, the Jewish
community left the city.
3. In 1967 there were about 40,000 Arab residents,
most of them crowded in the 2-square-mile urban area in
the valley. The rest lived in scattered farmhouses in the
city's 30-square-mile agricultural area.
4. In April 1968, seven Jewish families moved into
rented rooms of an Arab hotel in Hebron. On April 15 these
ultra-Orthodox families stated their desire was only to
celebrate Passover in Hebron near the Cave of Machpelah,
but afterwards they announced their intent to settle
permanently in the city. They took this controversial
action despite the Israeli Government's disapproval and
in the face of international law: the 1950 Geneva Convention
Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of
War, signed by Israel, prohibits the establishment of
civilian settlements in occupied territory. When the
minority right-wing and religious parties voiced their
support of the Hebron settlers, Israel's coalition Government
began to split. The more moderate Cabinet members did
not support the settlers but would not vote to forcibly
evict them from Hebron. The Government, to preserve
itself, reached a compromise. The settlers stayed but
were moved for their own protection into the Israeli
military government compound in northwestern Hebron (Map B).
To pacify the settlement's minority supporters, the Eshkol
government commissioned a time-consuming Hebron Master Plan
for Jewish settlement.
5. The Cabinet, under continuous pressure, made
several decisions in 1968 and 1969 which led to creation
of the Jewish settlement Kiryat Arba in northeast Hebron
in March 1970. While the settlers lived in the compound,
they petitioned repeatedly for permission to operate a
yeshiva (religious boarding school) and a kosher restaurant/
gift shop, which the Cabinet eventually granted (Figure 2).
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 CONFIDENTIAL Map B
To r
Jerusalem
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9os/ 1
0oe~
qo
HEBRON
961
MOSQUE OF ABRAHAM
Al Haram al Ibrahimi al Khalil
Built-up area
Approximate loca-
tion of 1st and 2nd
expropriated areas.*
&1020 Elevation in meters * Location of proposed 3rd area
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1 Vh 1 itometer
i l Compound %
HEBRON ti "' ` ormer'
(Al Khalil) Jewish Quiv-41.
VJVI' diD1884
1
Exmptfrom 9enerel
deolessitcetioe scheduleoi E.D. 11852
Exemption oxte ory 5@ _ (2)
Declessificetidn dete impossible to determine
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Figure 2. Al Haram al Ibrahimi al Khalil is in the upper right of the above
view of Hebron. After the Jewish settlers moved from a hotel in the city to
the military government compound (large building on hill, below left), they
opened a kosher restaurant/gift shop (below right) in front of the Haram.
The settlers, now living in Kiryat Arba, continue to operate the restaurant
and have recently opened an art gallery in a nearby building.
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From these businesses the dozen families earned the income
needed for them to stay in Hebron. When the Government
authorized the yeshiva in 1968, it attempted to limit the
Hebron settlement to 103 Jews, all of whom had to be con-
nected with the yeshiva. By March 1969 the yeshiva was
open with 12 bachelor students in residence. In March 1970
the settlers threatened to pitch tents near the government
compound if apartments were not built for more families.
The Israeli Cabinet, taking their threat seriously,
hurriedly announced plans to construct 250 apartments for
them in Hebron.
Kiryat Arba
6. In April 1970 the Israeli military governor
seized a tract of 825 acres of Arab farmland for the
officially planned Israeli city of Kiryat Arba. The
military immediately established an Israeli Defense Force
(IDF) camp within this area to protect Kiryat Arba against
possible sabotage. Planning and construction continued
over the next 12 months. In October the Housing Ministry
approved plans for an initial project of 80 apartments to
be built in three-story structures, and Deputy Finance
Minister Dinstein later announced the transfer of over
$1.7 million* from budgets of various government offices
to finance the housing construction. In December,
Finance Minister Sapir said an industrial area of 16,200
square feet of floorspace would also be constructed, and
after this area was rented, the industrial area could be
expanded to 43,200 square feet. The government also granted
Kiryat Arba a preferential status for industrial development
like that granted to Kefar Ezyon, a Jewish settlement a few
miles north of Hebron. By September 1971 Kiryat Arba in-
cluded 234 apartments, a kindergarten, a school, a store,
a temporary synagogue, and an electric plant. At this
time the settlement housed 140 Hebron settlers and 25
families of the border police -- a total of 200 to 250 people.
Conversions of Israeli pounds into US dollars involve
different rates of exchange because of devaluation.
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7. Complete details of the Hebron Master Plan, approved
by the Israeli Cabinet, have not been announced. The Govern-
ment has spent more than $10 million on Kiryat Arba, and plans
to spend another $20 million have been approved (Figure 3).
The Housing Ministry announced that a total of about 900
apartments would be constructed in phases in Kiryat Arba
and that by 1975 the settlement would have about 5,000
residents.
8. In October 1971 the Government seized another 250
acres for Kiryat Arba's industrial expansion, making the
total area of Kiryat Arba about 1,075 acres (Map B). This
year the settlers are demanding additional land for expansion,
and more seizures are anticipated. The Commerce and Industry
Ministry reportedly decided to expropriate another 1,500 acres
in 1972, but this land has not yet been taken.
9. Late in 1971 cracks began to show in the Hebron
Master Plan as the Orthodox settlers debated with the
Housing Ministry over the religious character of the Kiryat
Arba population. The Housing Ministry had planned Kiryat
Arba for the Orthodox families and for other residents
representing a wide range of Israeli society. An important
consideration was to relieve some of Jerusalem's housing
problems, since people could live in Kiryat Arba and easily
commute to work in the capital. The original settlers
wanted to maintain at least a majority of Orthodox families,
however, and they attempted various schemes, such as
"screening" applicants' jobs, to achieve this. As the
struggle continued between the proponents of these opposing
development schemes, 45 of the apartments remained unoccupied;
this vacancy rate caused officials to delay new apartment
construction. For a variety of reasons, including the
persistent rumor that the settlement was limited to Orthodox
families, couples in Jerusalem who needed housing refused to
move into Kiryat Arba. Nevertheless, in 1971 a few families
living in Kiryat Arba were non-Orthodox.
10. In December 1971 the Orthodox settlers requested
that Kiryat Arba be granted municipal status to replace the
then joint administration by the Housing Ministry and the
military government. As a municipality, the settlers would
be able to elect their own mayor and council and could keep
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Figure 3. Kiryat Arba (Jan. 1973) includes about 40 apartment buildings and
a small industrial park. Arab farmers continue to live in the area between
Kiryat Arba and the Haram (above). Security measures at Kiryat Arba include
a guard tower at its entrance, fencing around the built-up area (below), and
an IDF camp on its eastern side.
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the number of non-Orthodox residents to a minimum. This
maneuver was, however, unsuccessful: although the problem
reached Cabinet level, the request for municipal status
was turned down. The Cabinet, desiring not to show
partiality toward any particular segment of the Israeli
population, favored the Housing Ministry's ideas for
development of the area.
11. Despite Israeli Government encouragement, few
industries have located in the settlement. Presently,
Kiryat Arba's industrial park includes the $350,000
Hebron Tiles factory, a building materials plant, and a
men's underwear sewing plant. In 1972 the Commerce and
Industry Ministry announced plans for 17 new factories
in Hebron. A controversial jet engine parts plant, pro-
posed by Beit Shemesh Engines, Ltd., is under consideration.
An earlier proposal for a $3.8 million plywood and formica
plant failed in final negotiations. Eight factories received
Government loans totaling more than $350,000. The total
employment in these industries is not known, but more
Arabs from Hebron work in the plants than do Jewish settlers,
less than half of whom are employed in Kiryat Arba's ser-
vices, businesses, and industries.
12. To further stimulate industrial development in the
occupied territories, the Israeli Government decided this
year to give greater investment incentives. Under a maximum
assistance plan, it would give the developer of an "approved
enterprise" in Kiryat Arba a 20-percent grant on the equipment
purchased as well as a subsidized loan and five-year tax
relief,. The industrial project would also be insured by the
Israeli Government for 100 percent against political risks.
The investor would be fully compensated should Israel be
forced to withdraw from the occupied territory and the plant
damaged or confiscated by non-Israeli authorities.
Arab Reactions
13,: Initial Hebron Arab reaction to the Jewish
settlement attempt was guarded. The mayor of Hebron, Sheikh
Jabari, asked the Prime Minister to order the expulsion of
the group in Play 1968, after a meeting with the settlers
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degenerated into a shouting match. On June 2 the owner
of the hotel, under pressure from his fellow Hebronites,
terminated the group's lease. The settlers then moved
into the military government compound.
14. Arab reaction to the announced creation of
Kiryat Arba was sharp, but non-violent. The settlers
had not provoked Arab concern much more than did the Israeli
military personnel as long as the group remained small and
was confined to the military compound. The Hebronites,
however, were aroused by the prospect of a large number of
Jews -- 250 families -- with their own housing area in
the city.
15. After the April 1970 seizure of 825 acres Mayor
Jabari called a protest meeting to discuss possible counter-
measures. It accomplished little, in part because the
Israelis sabotaged it by putting up road blocks around the
city, thus prohibiting journalists and others from traveling
to Hebron. Later Jabari said that the Government had not
offered anything approaching adequate compensation for the
land. Although the exact number of Arab farmers in the
seized area is disputed, U.S. Embassy officials who
visited the area in 1970 reported it to be substantially
inhabited and Under intensive cultivation. They said an
accurate count of the houses was difficult because of the
hilly terrain, but apparently many more farmers commuted to
the area than lived in it. Hebron officials stated that at
least 500 families derived their living from the seized
tract and an Israeli Arab journalist estimated that 100
Arab families lived there. Although the Israeli government
paid "compensation money" to the displaced farmers, they
could not replace their losses since more than 85 percent
of the Hebron area was already under cultivation (Figure 4),
Only marginal land, rocky or steep-sloped, remained
uncultivated or in pasture. Farmers on nearby land also
lost olive trees when the Israelis bulldozed access roads
into the new settlement. After a second seizure, 250 acres,
in 1971 more Arabs lost their lands. If the proposed third
area of approximately 1,500 acres is taken by the Israelis,
most of the remaining farmers northeast of Hebron will be
displaced.
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Figure 4. Hebron's Arab farmers grow vegetables, deciduous fruits, and sweet,
late-ripening table grapes for the Arab markets in Jordan and the Persian Gulf
states. Vines, which occupy about 40 percent of the agricultural area, are
grown as extended bushes in fields, on string courses, and as climbers on
arbors.
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16. In May 1972 the Government announced that Kiryat Arba
would be expanded from 250 apartments to 500, the formerly
vacant units having been assigned by the Housing Ministry's
lottery held in January. Jabari dispatched a telegram to
t: he Israeli authorities. He requested them to "be satisfied"
with the first Hebron settlement of 250 apartments and to
refrain from the planned expansion which might arouse a
"feeling of uneasiness" among the people.
Mosgue Dispute
17. It is probable that the residents of Hebron feel
the greatest bitterness over the control and use of their
main mosque by the Jewish settlers. From the Moslems point
of view the "sharing arrangement" is a pattern of Jewish
demand, Moslem concession, Jewish demand . . . imposed by
the Israeli military. Recently, in June 1973, the Jewish
settlers have asked for the Moslems to he completely ex-
cluded from the mosque; Dayan and the Israeli Government
so far have not agreed to this proposal, but the Hebron
natives see it is inevitable.
18. The Mosque of Abraham and its courtyard cover the
Tomb of the Patriarchs in Machpelah Cave, sacred to both
Moslems and Jews. Its surrounding wall, thought to have
been originally a fortress, is ascribed to the Herodian
period, about 37 B.C. The crenelated upper part of the
wall and the two surviving minarets of the original four
are of Arab construction. The Mosque of Abraham, in the
southern end of the walled area, is adapted from a 12th
century Crusader church which was built over a Byzantine
basilica of the Justinian period. The entire walled area,
including the Mosque and its courtyard, form the Moslem
Al Haram al Ibrahimi al Khalil, the Sanctuary of Abraham
the Friend of God.
19. Cenotaphs, empty honorary tombs, for the Patriarc
and their wives are located within the walls of the Haram
above what are believed to be their actual graves. The
cenotaphs of Isaac and Rebecca are inside the mosque; thwic
of Abraham and Sarah are behind silver gratings in the wa?
of the narthex of the mosque; and those of Jacob and Leah
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are enclosed in chapel-like halls on the northern side of
the courtyard (Figure 5). A cenotaph honoring Joseph is
attached to the outer side of the courtyard wall. (See
Plan of Al Haram. )
20. During Ottoman times Jews were banned from the
Tomb of the Patriarchs. Under the British Mandate they
were permitted to advance just seven steps up the long
entrance stairway into the mosque. Jordanian authorities
refused Jewish visits to the Haram from 1948 to June 1967.
21. After the June 1967 War, the Israeli Army
Rabbinical Unit headed by Rabbi Goren took over the
supervision and guarding of the Harem and its mosque.
The Rabbinate placed a Holy Ark in the courtyard, which
provided a place for Jewish worship; and thousands of
Israelis crowded into the area to pray and to sightsee
(Figure 5).
22. The Army Rabbinate, overjoyed in gaining control
over the cu rod site, paid little attention to maintaining
order in the Haram. The Moslems complained that the Jews,
who did not remove their shoes, were ruining the prayer
carpets covering the floor and that the sanctity of the
place was being defiled by women in immodest dress and by
tourists carrying or eating food. The Moslems also charged
that the Deli soldiers guarding the Mosque played dice
and cards in the area..
e``era l,x:Ee :s , Defense Minister Dayan
mediated an igreement between the Israelis , represented
by the c,Ii11 nary governor, and the Moslems, represented
Qy M,Iayor? Jah-.ri and the rel Hious leaders of Hebron. This
1967, reduced the Army
Rabb n_,tf_:'.7 d u,11ori y over t.iie site. Jewish visitors were
ali,?ted e-eu a.r' vic uiq hoi.urs, 8-11:30 a.m. and 1:30-5 p,Jul
except o n r c : y, r as [ e n sabbath, when visits were for-
bidden. The Israeli Army was ordered to see that visitors
were od7s :,1 Y dressed to prevent food or drink being
I ntr ,o ,_cccd nto 010 m!,: que .. and to prohibit smoking in the
}re,_ art made no mention of the
reniov