[4][5][6][7][9] During his research, Ben-Zvi learned about the Makhmara family, which had converted to Islam approximately two hundred years earlier, from David Castel, a Jewish resident of Hebron.
He received a recommendation letter from the village's scribe for Jabarin ben Abd al Rahman, an associate of Sheikh Abu ‘Aram, who at that time served as the primary mukhtar of the Makhmara family.
[4][5][6][7][9] The "Wanderers' Association", a group of secular Jewish travellers who toured the southern Hebron Hills in 1929 and published their findings and experiences in a series of articles in Haaretz, also wrote about the Makhamara family.
[11] In another article, David Benbenishti from the Wanderers' Association reported meeting two shepherds from the Makhamara family at Khirbet Khureisa, who also told them that their ancestors were Jews from Khaybar.
[12] When they later visited the nearby town of As-Samu, locals there informed them that several of the villagers were linked to the Makhamara family as a result of intermarriage and said that they regularly mocked them by stating, "You are Jews, so you are cheaters".
[4] In 1952, an article in شعريم Sha'arim[clarification needed] reported that in November 1948, Abu 'Ayyash, a mukhtar and tradesman from the Makhamra family, was executed in Gaza, accused of espionage for the Jews due to his clan's Jewish ancestry.
[15] Several members of the Makhamra clan were interviewed for a Channel 1 article about Tzvi Misinai and admitted that they are aware of their Jewish origins, although today they consider themselves Muslims for many generations since their ancestors converted to Islam.
Additionally, a man named Ishaq detailed his knowledge of an ancient synagogue's location in Yatta, a site his family had historically frequented and preserved, which he said was now underneath a modern school.
[20] In contrast to other areas of Judea, the southern Hebron Hills retained a Jewish population after the Bar Kokhba revolt,[21][22] as evidenced by historical texts and archaeological sites (including multiple synagogues).
[citation needed] Another theory, backed by scholars such as Mordechai Nissan, contends that the current inhabitants of Yatta may be the descendants of a Jewish population that lived there during the Second Temple period and later converted to Islam.
[8] Ben-Zvi also mentioned Shalem's view, which suggests that the traditional descent from Khaybar actually refers to a nearby ruin of the same name, either located in close proximity to Khirbet Karmil (ancient Carmel), or identical to it.
On June 8, 2016, two members of the clan, Khaled Mahmara and Muhammad Mahamara, carried out a shooting attack in Sarona Market, Tel Aviv, during which four people were killed.
[2] Moshe Elad, a Middle East scholar, reported on Israel's Arabic-language television that two members of the Makhamra family had embraced Judaism and were now Israeli citizens living in the country.