The Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to adhere to its position which denies the historical and religious rights of the Jewish people in Israel and the connection to its holy sites, after one of its "ministers" denied the Jewish heritage of the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron. 

Sheikh Yusuf Aidais, the PA's "Minister of Religious Affairs," condemned the visit of Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett and several other MKs to the Cave last week, claiming that the site is "Muslim." 

Aidais claimed that "al-Ibrahimi Mosque" (the Arabic name of the Cave of the Patriarchs) is a pure Islamic place, and that "no one has the right to own it or control it."

Currently, the Cave - which houses the graves of the forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as well as foremothers Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah - is split between Jewish worship sites and Islamic worship sites. 

According to him, the allowance for Jews to have a measure of religious worship on the site is illegal, immoral, and inhumane in light of a massacre on Muslim worshippers there in 1994. 

He warned that the use of electoral propaganda in the holy place based on "religious tales" could drag the region into a religious war that will bring disaster to the entire region.

He also praised the "steadfastness" of the local Muslim residents against  the"Judaization" of Hevron - one of the four holy cities named in the Tanakh - and asked the international community and UNESCO to prevent recurrence of such "dangerous acts" (i.e. visits) by Israeli officials.

Hevron still maintains a small Jewish community - despite the fact that it is a frequent site for terror attacks that leaves it virtually under siege.