Israeli president celebrates Hanukkah at West Bank site
Source: AP
By MOSHE EDRI
HEBRON, West Bank (AP) — Israel’s president on Sunday visited one of the most contentious spots in the occupied West Bank to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, sparking scuffles between Israeli security forces and protesters.
President Isaac Herzog said he was visiting the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron to celebrate the ancient city’s Jewish past and promote interfaith relations. But his visit to the city, known for its tiny ultranationalist Jewish settler community and difficult living conditions for Palestinians, drew widespread criticism from Palestinians and left-wing Israelis.
About 1,000 Jewish settlers live in small enclaves guarded by Israeli soldiers in the city, surrounded by some 200,000 Palestinians who must cross through Israeli checkpoints to move from place to place.
There is frequent violence between the sides and the Cave of the Patriarchs, revered by Muslims and Jews, was the site of a massacre by a Jewish settler who killed 29 Muslim worshippers in 1994.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog lights candles during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in Hebron's holiest site, known to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque in the Israeli controlled part of the West Bank city of Hebron, Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021, Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Oren Ziv)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-religion-israel-west-bank-holidays-0f003f76c799178a775f37795ac192a8
