The new settlement in Hebron is not a house, it's an entire neighborhood. Into this enormous, 3,500-square-meter edifice purchased by the Jews of Hebron in the past few weeks for $700,000, no less than 30 families and 14 individuals - more than at any other West Bank outpost - moved in with great pomp and circumstance.

The huge building dominates the Kiryat Arba-Hebron road. Its inhabitation was a showy demonstration intended to kick off the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the city's occupation. Hebron's Jews, although numbering only a few hundred in a city of over 100,000 Palestinians, are well-practiced in setting the agenda of the occupation. It is difficult to forget that Baruch Goldstein, who killed dozens of worshipers at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, launched the wave of suicide attacks in Israel.

The minister of defense has already announced his intention to evacuate the dozens of new settlers from the structure they bought, but at this stage it is a decision with no date set for action, despite the estimate by the deputy defense minister that the building will be evacuated within two weeks. The more time elapses the more entrenched the settlers will become and the harder it will be to remove them. As Amir Peretz has not managed to convince the prime minister to support the evacuation of other outposts, it is doubtful he can do so here. No one is better at exploiting official hesitation than the settlers.

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"This time we decided to act in a legal manner," Hebron Jewish Community spokesman Noam Arnon said, referring to the deed of sale on the house, but this settlement is illegal even if the real estate transaction was carried out properly.

Hebron is occupied Palestinian land and all Jewish settlement at any site under occupation must be approved by the Civil Administration. No such permit was issued, and happily none apparently will be issued as long as Peretz remains defense minister. Hebron is not Jaffa, as the settlers are trying to claim, because it is not part of the State of Israel. On the other hand, the Jewish settlers of Hebron are Israeli citizens and as such the police can evacuate them.

Experience has taught the settlers that Israeli cabinets have less staying power than the residents of illegal settlements. If they can only hang on to the end of Peretz's term, perhaps a defense minister who is more sympathetic to their cause will replace him, one who will sign off on the necessary permits as easily as his predecessors did and dispatch soldiers to protect the new settlement.

Nevertheless, in the summer of 2005 a large crack breached the settlers' self-confidence because of the ease with which Ariel Sharon evacuated all the settlers in Gush Katif. That lesson, which the settlers certainly took on board, should also strengthen the government's hand. Amir Peretz, who for years has advocated the evacuation of the settlements, must prove that his words and promises are still valid and take at least this small step after failing to evacuate other outposts. All the public opinion polls have shown for years that there is broad public support for reducing the settlement enterprise, which is considered the main obstacle to peace agreements. How much more so when it comes to a settlement of extremist settlers in the heart of Hebron.