[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Likud Knesset Member, and head of the Knesset Absorption Committee, and Ethiopian rights activists, Dr. Avraham Neguise, earlier this week toured Hebron with his staff and with heads of the Jewish Community.

While Neguise was at the Ma’aras HaMachpelah he spoke with a group of Foreign Ministry cadets who coincidentally came to tour the city at the same time.

“I just came back from a trip abroad to do hasbara [public diplomacy], and I will be going again next week. I am familiar with all the conflicts and issues that our enemies raise. It is so important that you are here: to learn about our roots, and this will prepare you to stand against all obstacles outside the country to explain the State of Israel, our history, and our connection to this land – and this is very important.”

During the tour, MK Neguise was interviewed on Israeli radio on issues pertaining to the Ethiopian community and mentioned that he was in Hebron for the day. Neguise also discussed with community leaders the idea of bringing more Ethiopian and other new immigrants to the city to connect with the story of Hebron. “We have to find a special day to bring the Ethiopian Jews to the city on a Pilgrimage” said Neguise.

The arrival of MK Neguise was preceded a few days earlier by another Likud official, this time the Minister of Science, Technology & Space Ofir Akunis. After taking part in a circumcision ceremony inside the Tomb complex he stated:

“I am finishing a tour of Hebron, city of the fathers, and I am here at the foot of the Machpelah, the beginnings of the amazing 3800-year story of the Jewish people. I have been hearing the recent claims by parts of the international community which deny the ancient connection of the Jewish people to this land. However, no lie or propaganda and no effort to deny or smudge the basic truth that here we were born, in these places, and this is where our fathers walked.

“We are here to stay – to build and not to leave. We are here to ensure the growth of places like the Jewish community of Hebron, Kiryat Arba, Yehuda & Shomron, and also the Galil, the Negev, the emerging communities, the coastal plain and the big cities. This is our land, and it is the basic right of people to a homeland, and our homeland is the land of Israel, and here we will stay.”

Photos and videos of MK Neguise in Hebron

Photos and video of Minister Akunis in Hebron

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photos: Yishai Fleisher, International Spokesman for the Jewish Community of Hebron)