(VOVworld) – Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Monday called for dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians during a visit to the West Bank city of Hebron. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony for a new Jewish museum in Hebron, Rivlin said that it is difficult to imagine the possibility of dialogue in Hebron but both sides should try to encourage peace talks.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visiting the West Bank town of Hebron, where he inaugurated the newly developed Hebron Heritage Museum, Feb. 2, 2015. (photo:Mark Neyman/GPO)

He visited the settlement of Kiryat Arba , adjoining the city, and the site known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque and to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs. Security under the management of Israelis and Palestinians were tightened during Rivlin’s visit. A number of Palestinians filled the roads to protest President Rivlin’s visit. Israeli troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, and injured one person. Today some 700 Jewish settlers live in around 80 homes in the city center of Hebron surrounded by nearly 200,000 Palestinians and protected by the Israeli army.