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CAVE page 10

keeping the Cave of the Patri-
archs closed for the holidays is to
"punish" them, collectively, for
last February's massacre and
their general opposition to its
peace policy.
But the problem posed by the
Cave of the Patriarchs is far more
complex than the settlers and
their backers seem prepared to
admit. Like every Israeli gov-
ernment before it, Mr. Rabin's ad-
ministration is very wary of
exacerbating the national dispute •
between Israelis and Palestini-
ans by piling on religious over-
tones — which is precisely what
would happen if Jews alone were
allowed into the shared holy
place, even temporarily.
Yet beyond this broad, long-
standing consideration is the very
specific, contemporary one of
what lies ahead for Hebron. Now
that the agreement on "early em-
powerment" has been signed with
the Palestinians, the next step is
for the two sides to begin nego-
tiating their "interim agreement"
for the West Bank. And that will
Mean reaching an understand-
ingon the redeployment of Israeli
troops outside Palestinian cities
and towns.
The departure of Israeli troops
will not constitute a problem in
Palestinian population centers,
as there are no Israelis living in
them. The one exception is He-
bron, where some 40 Jewish fam-
ilies are ensconced in four
separate compounds. The Dec-
laration of Principles ducked the
problem of this special case by
providing for both the redeploy-
ment of Israeli forces "outside
populated areas" and for Israel
to maintain "responsibility for
overall security of Israelis."
Now the negotiators must find
a way to unravel the contradic-
tion without kindling an explo-
sion in Hebron.
One solution, long demanded
by the Palestinians, would be to
But the issue has been brought move the settlers out. Another
to court anyway. Noam Arnon, might be to have joint Israeli-
spokesman for the Jewish set- Palestinian patrols in the city,
tlers in Hebron, has asked the though that probably would
High Court to order the opening please neither of the populations
of the building for the holidays on living there. In any event, at
the grounds that keeping the some time in the months ahead,
Cave of the Patriarchs closed to new ground rules will begin to ap-
Jewish worshipers is an "illegal ply in Hebron. And willy-nilly,
act."
any arrangement adopted for the
Mr. Arnon also warned that if Cave of the Patriarchs today will
his request is turned down, 'there have to be approved by, or rene-
will be considerable disgruntle- gotiated with, the Palestinian au-
ment and rebellion [among the thorities. So even if the
settlers]. Jews may try to enter government finds a way of open-
to cave in any number of ing the Cave of the Patriarchs in
time for the High Holidays, it
ways."
The settlers, of course, are de- must take into consideration
manding that the holy site be the needs and feelings of both
opened only to Jewish worshipers sides.
That is the new reality dictat-
for the holidays, implying that
ed
not only by the Declaration of
the best solution to the need for
special security arrangements is Principles but, more to the point,
by the massacre. And the more the
to keep Muslims out.
Some settlers also have settlers resist it, the less likely they
charged that far from being con- are to have their needs and feel-
cerned with their security, the ings taken into consideration by
real reason the government is Mr. Rabin's government. ❑

the mix of religious and nation-
alist sentiment felt by Jews and
Muslims and picking up the
struggle for control of the site
where it left off half a year ago."
In a certain sense, that strug-
gle already has begun. The delay
in reopening the site has sparked
a political and legal battle be-
tween Yitzhak Rabin's govern-
ment and its foes on the political
right. Purportedly inspired by
leading figures in the National
Religious Party (which has a
strong following among settlers
in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip), Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi
Yisrael Lau and Sephardi Chief
Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron
both visited the Cave of the Pa-
triarchs last week to review the
new security arrangements and
offer their own recommendations
on which system of separa-
tion should be adopted.
When Mr. Rabin tried to stop
the Knesset Interior Committee
from following suit — on the as-
sumption the point of the visit
was primarily to make political
capital for the right — its
chairman, Likud Knesset mem-
ber Yehoshua Matza, threatened
to appeal to the High Court of
Justice, and Mr. Rabin relented.

The greatest fear
is that the return
of worshipers to
the scene of
the massacre
will enflame
hostilities
between Israelis
and Palestinians.

