Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron

The negotiations on the Hebron Protocol took place between January 17, 1997 January 7, 1997. Parties were Israel, represented by Benjamin Netanyahu, and the PLO, Yasser Arafat represented by, moderated by Warren Christopher. The protocol involves the division of Hebron between Israel and the Palestinians and the re-establishment of Israeli forces in Hebron to protect the Jewish settlers in the divided city in accordance with the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Hebron was divided into two sectors. The western part inhabited by Arabs (zone H1) is under the protection of the Palestinian Authority. The eastern part (zone H2) includes the old Jewish quarter and the grave of the patriarch with the resting places of the three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives Sarah, Rebecca and Leah. The Jewish residents of Hebron H2 zone include, according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics on the population of Kiryat Arba.

In protest against the Hebron Protocol Benny Begin, Michael Kleiner and David Re'em had left the Likud during the Israeli parliamentary elections in 1996 to the 14th Knesset. Politicians who rejected the Hebron Protocol established, inter alia, the party Herut - HaTnu'a HaLeumit that rejects any land concessions to the Palestinians strictly.