The families that were evacuated Wednesday from the contested Hebron home Beit Hamachpela set up a protest tent in a parking lot opposite the apartment building on Thursday. They said they would remain there until Defense Minister Ehud Barak approves the home.

Israeli security services evacuated the settlers from the apartment building, because they did not have the necessary permits from the civil administration to move into the structure and submitted all the paperwork for that authorization only on Tuesday.

The attorney of the families said that his client had feared that Arab employees in the Civil Administration would tell the PA of the sale if they sought a permit.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority arrested the Palestinian who sold the home to the Jewish settlers.

The settlement issue has taken center stage on the Israeli political scene in recent days. Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said that the issue threatened the stability of the coalition and called for decision-making power to be stripped from Barak, who handled the evacuation.

The issue looks set to continue to cause rifts in Israeli political society, as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is considering converting three outposts - Rehalim, Sansana and Bruchin, into settlements. (© 1995-2011, The Jerusalem Post 04/05/12)