(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning (Sunday, 9 July 2017), at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, made the following remarks:
"I would like to read from
Genesis 23:16-19: 'And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant…And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre--the same is Hebron--in the land of Canaan. And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying-place by the children of Heth.'
The connection between the Jewish People and Hebron and the Tomb of the Patriarchs is one of purchase and of history which may be without parallel in the history of peoples. Of course this did not prevent the UNESCO World Heritage Committee last Friday from passing yet another delusional resolution which determined that the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the same Cave of Machpelah, is a Palestinian heritage site.
In the wake of this resolution
I decided to cut an additional $1 million from Israel's UN membership dues and transfer the funds to the establishment of "The Museum of the Heritage of the Jewish People in Kiryat Arba and Hebron". The money will also serve additional heritage initiatives related to Hebron. I trust you [Jerusalem and Heritage Minister] Ze'ev [Elkin] to submit a proper proposal on this matter.
Against UNESCO's denial, Israel will present to the world
the historical truth and the Jewish People's deep connection – of thousands of years – to Hebron just as we did with
UNESCO's other delusional decision regarding the absence of a connection to Jerusalem. Therefore today I have instructed that procedures be completed for the construction of the Kedem Center for displaying the historical and archaeological findings for the City of David. This will be an impressive structure with extensive displays. The entire world will see the truth and the first visitors whom I will invite there will be UNESCO and UN delegations.
About Syria: Israel will welcome a genuine ceasefire in Syria but this ceasefire must not enable the establishment of a military presence by Iran and its proxies in Syria in general and in southern Syria in particular. I had deep discussions about this last week with US Secretary of State Tillerson and with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Both told me that they understand Israel's position and will take our demands into account.
For our part we will continue to monitor developments beyond our borders while strongly upholding our red lines: Prevent the strengthening of Hezbollah via Syria, with emphasis on the acquisition of precision weapons, prevent Hezbollah – or Iranian forces – from establishing a ground presence along our border, and prevent the establishment of an Iranian military presence in Syria as a whole."