The M’arat Hamachpelah, the Cave of the Patriarchs.is the world’s most ancient Jewish site and the second holiest place for the Jewish people, after the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.. The cave and the adjoining field were purchased—at full market price—by our father, Abraham approximately 3700 years ago.
Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants.
So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.
Genesis 23:16-20
UNESCO decided that the Ma’arat Hamachpelah is now a Palestinian heritage site. This in the same week that the illustrious, body that denied the Jewish connection to the Tomb of our mother, Rachel, as well as to the holiest site, the Temple Mount. UNESCO has decided that the historical evidence should be disregarded. The Jewish and Christian history associated with that site are not relevant, and are not worthy of comment.
I will be honest. I have been a vocal critic of the United Nations and her institutions for at least 35 years. Back then, I was opposed to the high salaries of UN officials who had no real qualifications for anything other than a need to be either exiled to New York or executed. I had some reason to be hopeful that a change was coming; most Secretaries General, including the current one, Antonio Guterres, have made statements against the UN bodies automatically accepting anti-Israel policies as a matter of course. even UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova stated that the Temple Mount and the Cave of the Patriarchs were also holy to the Jewish people. Unfortunately, there is nothing that these leaders can do. They are as ineffective as parents of spoiled children.
In 1974, Israel was expelled from UNESCO, and was only reinstated in 1979 after the United States threatened to reduce its funding. Perhaps Mr. Trump can see how much money the United States can save by reducing American funding of this anti-Israel party.
As a response to this latest UN stupidity, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to cut another $1 million from the membership fees Israel gives the UN and use the money to build a museum of Jewish heritage in Kiryat Arba and Hebron. As a gesture of diplomacy, the members of the UNESCO committee should receive free passes.