I am surprised that any Israeli is surprised with this decision.
This is just another in a long string of UN votes against Israel, and even if you just limit it to UNESCO, it follows other similar UNESCO decisions to turn Israeli sites into Palestinian sites.
There is nothing new or unexpected in this decision, as stupid and dishonest as it is.
Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz posted online a statement about such UN decisions not affecting Jewish history and rights... and he posted a picture of himself davening in Mearat HaMachpela.
Something I found interesting about this is that Katz is a kohen and cannot go into grave sites. The thing is, Mearat HaMachpela is different. They have birkat kohanim, the priestly blessings, every day there, despite the fact that it is over the caves of graves. There are different opinions as to whether a kohen can go there or not - I personally know some who do go and some who do not. Those who do go refer to rabbonim who pasken that either the configuration of the building over the graves does not allow tumah to go up and enter the structure or that the tzaddikim buried there are not "metamei".
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