The Prime Minister and his wife visit Hebron
Photo: Emil Salman
Netanyahu: 'We will remain in Hebron forever'
'We are not here to disinherit anyone, but no one will disinherit us," says PM, soon after Knesset Speaker, Culture Minister call for annexation of the West Bank and enhancement of the settlement in the city
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday during a memorial service to the 1929 Arab riots in Hebron that "we are not strangers in Hebron and will remain in the city forever."
"We are not here to disinherit anyone, but no one will disinherit us (from here)," he said.
The Prime Minister and his wife visit Hebron (Photo: Emil Salman)
“We have come here to unite in memory, to express victory over bloodthirsty rioters who committed this horrific massacre 90 years ago,” the prime minister said.
“They were sure that they uprooted us for good, but they made a huge mistake,” he added.
Earlier in the ceremony, Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein said that "it is time to impose sovereignty" on the city.
"We did not return in all out might to this place, a place where out legacy lies and where Jews have dreamed about for generations," he said. "It is time that the Jewish settlement in Hebron grows by the thousands."
Palestinians burn Netanyahu's photo during his visit to Hebron (Photo: Reuters)
Culture Minister Miri Regev also called on Netanyahu to annex the city of Hebron, saying that “it's time that we uphold the pledge we have with our patriarchs and be sovereigns over the West Bank and Hebron, Tel Aviv and Hebron are no different"
"We have no right to settle in Tel Aviv, Dimona or Kiryat
Shmona if we don't understand the meaning of Hebron," she added.
President Reuven Rivlin attended a different memorial service in the city earlier Wednesday and said that "Hebron is not a barrier for peace."
Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein giving a speech in Hebron (Photo: TPS)
"It is all up to us and our will. Hope is where we stand, Jews have returned to the home of their fathers," he said.
"Israel must work to improve the quality of life in the are for all its inhabitants," the president added, referring to both the Arab and Jewish population of the city.
Rivlin did not attend the evening ceremony, since it included political statements.
