1929 Hebron massacre — Massacre of Jewish residents of Hebron by Arabs residents in 1929 Arab riots in Mandatory Palestine
The massacre ended centuries of Jewish life in Hebron and catalyzed the reorganization of the Haganah, later the nucleus of the Israel Defense Forces.
Key Facts
- Jews killed
- 67 or 69
- Jewish survivors in Hebron
- 435
- Total Jews killed in 1929 riots
- 133
- Total Arabs killed in 1929 riots
- 110
- Date of massacre
- 24 August 1929
- Jewish return after evacuation
- Many returned in 1931
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Arab residents were incited to violence by rumors that Jews were planning to seize control of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This false allegation spread amid rising intercommunal tensions during the broader 1929 Palestine riots, inflaming hostility toward Hebron's Jewish community, which had maintained a presence in the city for centuries.
On 24 August 1929, Arab residents massacred 67 or 69 Jews in Hebron, Mandatory Palestine. Jewish homes were pillaged and synagogues ransacked, leaving scores more seriously wounded. Some of the 435 Jewish survivors were sheltered by Arab neighbors, though the scale of such protection is disputed. British authorities subsequently evacuated all remaining Jews from the city.
The massacre brought the centuries-old Jewish presence in Hebron to a practical end; those who returned in 1931 were evacuated again at the outbreak of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt. Together with the simultaneous massacre in Safed, the violence shocked Jewish communities worldwide and directly spurred the reorganization and expansion of the Haganah paramilitary organization, which eventually became the Israel Defense Forces.