Kiryat Arba, less than lkm northeast of the Cave of Makhpela, is unusual among West Bank settlements for its proximity to a large Palestinian population center. Jewish settlers founded Kiryat Arba in 1972. Tall buildings, wide streets, and green parks contrast sharply with the comparative poverty outside the settlement’s barbed wire perimeter. Nevertheless, many of the 5000 residents would eagerly trade their suburbia for an opportunity to reestablish the Jewish Quarter in Hebron, a move that the government has persisted in opposing. English is widely spoken, and in the parks oryeshiva (to the left as you enter) you will undoubtedly meet people willing to explain the ideology that has drawn them here.

It is unsafe to walk to Kiryat Arba. Take Egged bus #34, 440, or 443, all of which stop within the settlement en route between Jerusalem and Hebron.