Israel Matzav: 'Provocative and unhelpful'

'Provocative and unhelpful'

The Obama administration has slammed Israel's designation of the Machpeila Cave and Rachel's Tomb as Jewish heritage sites for being 'provocative and unhelpful.'

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the administration viewed the move as provocative and unhelpful to the goal of getting the two sides back to the table.

Toner said US displeasure with the designations of the Cave of the Patriarchs in the flash point town of Hebron and the traditional tomb of the biblical matriarch Rachel in Bethlehem had been conveyed to senior Israeli officials by American diplomats.

But the truth is that this has nothing to do with Israel and nothing to do with whether or not there will eventually be a 'Palestinian state.' If you don't believe that, I suggest that you go over to Elder of Ziyon, where he has quoted the Arab media outlets. In each case, their objection is to the Jewish connection with the site being highlighted.

Like the UN, the US, and even the Arab countries, dismiss Jewish history because we do. We are still paying the price for Moshe Dayan's failure to expel the Arabs in 1967 when it could have been done and no one would have batted an eyelash. And each time we propose to give the Arabs parts of the Land of Israel, we cheapen our own history a little bit more.

Israel Matzav: 'Provocative and unhelpful'