Press Reporis of Tensions Between Jews and Arabs in Hebron is Termed Grossly Exaggeraied

— The Military Governor of Hebron published a report today claiming that recent press accounts of harassment of local Arabs by Jewish settlers were grossly exaggerated. The report backed up the Jewish Settlers Council and the Kiryat Arba municipal council who contended yesterday that there was no tension between Jews and Arabs in Hebron.

The press reports had prompted Premier Menachem Begin, in his capacity as Defense Minister, to order the Military Government to make sure that the Kiryat Arba settlers no longer harass their Arab neighbors. Earlier this week, Deputy Defense Minister Mordechai Zipori asked the Kiryat Arab residents not to walk the streets of Hebron armed or to attempt to restore order. The settlers claimed they carried arms at the instructions of the Military Government and said they would prefer not to as a demonstration of their free presence in the Arab city.

The settlers took umbrage at the press reports. They said an investigation of their conduct would prove the reports false and that parties spreading such rumors should be brought to justice.

The Military Governor met yesterday with a number of Hebron residents who had grievances against the Kiryat Arba Jews. He said he found that in most instances, published accounts of these incidents were much more dramatic than the events themselves. The Military Governor prepared his report on Begin’s instructions. Earlier he met with Mustapha Abdul Nabi, acting Mayor of Hebron, and Jamil Dandous, owner of a store whose ceiling was demolished by Jewish settlers.