The leadership of the Jewish community in the Shomron is up in arms at a "punishment" handed down by the IDF Commanding Officer of the Shechem (Nablus) District Regiment.
Commander Col. Itzik Barr told the Shomron Jewish leadership, in effect, "Because you didn't condemn the residents of Yitzhar when they entered an Arab village 10 days ago, I will not allow visits to Joseph's Tomb."
David HaIvri, aide to Shomron Regional Council head Gershon Mesika, recounted the events and their background: "The holy site of Joseph's Tomb in Shechem is effectively closed to Jews - with two major exceptions. Almost every night, some people - Breslover Hassidim and others - go there on their own, without army permission or protection. In addition, over the past few months, we have been in contact with the army to allow organized visits, protected by the army. Approximately once a month, we have had several busloads go in, three at a time in the middle of the night, with army protection."
"Recently," HaIvri said, "we have been in touch with the Regiment Commander, Col. Barr, regarding three upcoming visits: One is for the Lieberman family, which wants to conduct a memorial ceremony for Rabbi Hillel Lieberman, who was brutally murdered before Yom Kippur 2000 by Palestinian terrorists on his way to Joseph's Tomb when he heard it had been destroyed. The second trip would be for the youth of the area, both religious and not religious, for whom we want to organize a special trip on the special penitential days before or immediately after Rosh HaShanah. And the third is - get this: for a rabbi from New York who mistakenly thought that Joseph's Tomb is open to Jews every Thursday, and who therefore made a special three-day trip from New York specifically for the purpose of visiting Joseph's Tomb. He arrived today!"
"When we told Col. Barr about the rabbi, he was very impressed that someone would make such a trip, and he said that he would help us out - not with buses, but a small-scale visit with just two or three soldiers guarding."
"All of a sudden, however," HaIvri said, "we received a message from the Commander saying that all the visits are off. Why? Because he is punishing us for not having condemned what the residents of Yitzhar did two Sabbaths ago in Asira el-Shamaliya."
Near-Tragedy in Yitzhar
Early in the morning two Sabbaths ago, on Sept. 13, an Arab terrorist entered the Shomron town of Yitzhar, set fire to a home that was empty at the time, tried to enter another home, and repeatedly stabbed a nine-year-old boy before throwing him from a four-meter-high porch. This, despite the presence of an IDF guard force in the area. Some 30 residents of Yitzhar responded later that day by entering the nearby Arab village of Asira el-Shamaliya, to where the terrorist escaped, and firing in the air, throwing rocks, and smashing windows.
Since then, there have been two other Arab attacks against Yitzhar, including setting fire to fields - the eight arson attack against Yitzhar in the past three months.
Rosenfeld Speaks
Eli Rosenfeld, the Shomron Council's Coordinator of Land Affairs, conducted the contacts with Col. Barr over the past few months regarding the Jewish entry into Joseph's Tomb.
"For Col. Barr to say that he is punishing the residents because he doesn't like what the political leadership condemns or doesn't condemn," Rosenfeld told Arutz-7, "is a very grave matter. The leadership chose to concentrate on the army's lack of response to what could have been a major tragedy, and not on the residents' response. Does he think it is his job to educate us? The army's job is to provide security, not to teach the people or their leadership what to say and what to condemn."
Asked if he thinks that publicizing the story will not make it harder to smoothe out the differences with the army and facilitate the visits to Joseph's Tomb, Rosenfeld said, "Some stories have to be publicized whether or not it will help our cause. The public must know that this is what is happening."