Hundreds of mispallelim, accompanied by the IDF, entered Kever Yosef in Shechem on Wednesday night, ahead of Taanis Esther and Purim, as part of the regular visits arranged by the Shomron Regional Council and approved by the IDF.
Yossi Dagan, the head of the Shomron Council, called for the restoration of full Israeli control over Kever Yosef. “There is no real reason to continue this absurdity, that a site that is supposed to be under full Israeli control, even according to the cursed Oslo Accords, has remained abandoned for over 24 years – one of the most kodesh places for the Jewish nation,” he said. “I call on the government to act to restore the permanent presence at the site, to correct the disgrace and allow every Jew to daven in this kodesh place without fear. We must have a ונהפוכו and fully return to Kever Yosef.”
Israel abandoned Kever Yosef, handing it over to the Palestinian Authority, after an Arab mob targeted the site, setting it on fire and causing rampant destruction during the early days of the Second Intifada in 2000. Hours after the IDF evacuated the area, a mob set the kever on fire and destroyed the entire site until it was nothing but rubble. For three years, no Jews were permitted to visit the site. In 2003, permission was granted to Jews to daven at the site but only on pre-approved visits in the middle of the night under heavy military protection.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
Why does the idf have to go and secure the way? They should just learn and daven for protection without the “shmad” army. That is shemira enough according to the gedolim.
At least one person (I.e. the editor who won’t post my comment) shockingly understands the cognitive dissonance of believing that limmud haTorah and tefillah is sufficient protection against our enemies. The phrase used in logic is “necessary but not sufficient.” HKBH put us in a world that requires our hishtadlus.