Rabbi Moshe Levinger, considered the father of the settlement movement in Judea and Samaria and frequently called "the sheriff of Hebron," passed away at age 80 on Saturday at Shaare Tzedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where he had been hospitalized for the past few months. Levinger's funeral was scheduled to take place on Sunday in Hebron. The military has increased its presence in the city ahead of the event. The news of Levinger's passing was a blow to the settler community, which saw him as a spiritual father, one of the founders of Gush Emunim and the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip, as it was known prior to the 2005 disengagement from Gaza. Malachi Levinger, the rabbi's son, is the current head of the Kiryat Arba-Hebron Local Council. He eulogized his father on Saturday, saying, "His leaving on the eve of Jerusalem Day and Hebron Day symbolizes his spirit and the great love he had for the entire Land of Israel. His vision is the vision of us all, and his great spirit will continue to beat in our hearts as we continue to build the nation and the land." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Levinger's son on Saturday to send his condolences to the family. Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog also expressed regret over the rabbi's death, saying, "Rabbi Levinger was the leader of an important sector, an ideological sector that believed in him and in his positions. I disagreed with his stances, but I respected them." Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev said that "the rabbi was an innovator and a symbol of Jewish settlement in Hebron and Judea and Samaria." The Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria said in a statement: "We are mourning the passing of the pioneer of renewed Jewish settlement in Hebron, and one of the trailblazers in bringing the Jewish people back to settle throughout Judea and Samaria." Levinger was born in Jerusalem in 1935. In 1968, seeking to revive the historic Jewish presence in Hebron, he led a group of settlers that included the late Hanan Porat and Eliyakim Ha'atzani to the city on Passover eve and held a Seder in the Park Hotel. That Hebron Seder became an icon of the settlement movement when the group announced it was staying in the city. In 1988, Levinger was involved in an incident in the center of Hebron in which he shot at a group of Palestinians after he was attacked by rocks. The rabbi was tried and signed a plea bargain, in which he admitted to causing death by negligence, causing bodily harm in serious circumstances, and willfully causing harm, and was sentenced to five months in prison.
