History of Hebron

r and a half of agitation, and a bloody attack during Sukkot (October 9, 1968), in which a grenade was thrown, apparently by an Arab boy, onto the mosque stairs wounding 47 Israeli and foreign visitors, the government agreed to legitimize Levinger's wildcat settlement. Much of the ensuing settlement was planned and financed by the Movement for Greater Israel.

In 1971, with the assistance of the Israeli and Jordanian governments, the Islamic University was founded. Immediately after the 1967 war, mayor al-Ja'bari had unsuccessfully promoted the creation of an autonomous Palestinian entity in the West Bank, and by 1972, he was advocating for a confederal arrangement with Jordan instead. al-Ja'bari nevertheless consistently fostered a conciliatory policy towards to Israel. He was ousted by Fahad Qawasimi in the 1976 mayoral election, which marked a shift in support for pro-PLO nationalist leaders.

In 1979, a group of settlers led by Miriam Levinger moved into the Dabouia, the former Hadassah Hospital in central Hebron, then under Arab administration. They turned it into a bridgehead for Jewish resettlement inside Hebron, and found the Committee of The Jewish Community of Hebron near the Abraham Avinu Synagogue. The take-over created severe conflict with Arab shopkeepers in the same area, who appealed twice to the Israeli Supreme Court, without success. With this precedent, in February of the following year, the Government legitimized residency in the city of Hebron proper. The pattern of settlement followed by an outbreak of hostilities with local Palestinians was repeated later at Tel Rumeida. The most violent episode occurred on the 2 May 1980 when 6 yeshiva students died, on the way home from Sabbath prayer at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, in a grenade and firearm attack. The event provided a major motivation for settlers near Hebron to join the Jewish Underground. On July 26, 1983,