Swastikas at Avraham spring, Hebron. Photo: Yonatan Atiya/Tazpit News Agency.

JNS.org – A day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the Israeli leader sent a letter of support to the Jewish community of Hebron. Several hundred Jews live in the majority Palestinian city that is home to the Cave of the Patriarchs, a significant holy site for Jews.

“Our deep connection to Hebron, in permanent and temporary settlement, in the journeys of pilgrims and the longing of worshippers, never stopped and never ceased,” Netanyahu wrote, according to the Times of Israel.

“Not for nothing the Israeli government included the Cave of the Patriarchs in its list of national heritage sites,” the prime minister added in a letter that came days before the Sabbath reading of the “Chayei Sarah” Torah portion, the story of Abraham’s purchase of the Cave of the Patriarchs to bury his wife Sarah.