Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced Oct. 11 that he will seek government approval to build 31 housing units for Jews in the Hezekiah Quarter of the West Bank town of Hebron.

Why now? One might have thought that the escalation in Gaza would be enough, without him escalating the situation in the West Bank as well. Why did Liberman decide now was the time to prove his loyalty to “strengthening West Bank Jewish settlement in deeds, not words?” One year ago, on Oct. 16, the Israeli planning authorities issued a general building permit for the project. Couldn’t he have waited two or three months for US President Donald Trump to present his promised "deal of the century" as a gesture to the supportive American president?

The Hebron issue is close to the heart of Liberman, himself a settler from Nokdim. Shortly before the March 2015 elections, Liberman took his campaign to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, a site holy to both Jews and Muslims.

There he declared on behalf of Yisrael Beitenu, "We have never given away Hebron; I always voted against the release of terrorists and we have always demanded the elimination of Hamas. We all voted against the withdrawal [from Gaza]. … It would be best for all the others [in a future government] to uphold the same principles: eliminating Hamas, capital punishment for terrorists instead of releasing them. Obviously, we will defend our principles: no withdrawal B or withdrawal C plans."