The monthly Jewish entry into the Tomb of Joseph was a sad one Monday night. The first to enter were the family members of Ben Yosef (Benyo) Livnat, who was murdered at the site by Palestinian Authority terrorists who are uniformed members of the "PA police force."
Ben Yosef's widow Shira, his parents Noam and Rivka, and his five sisters and brothers, completed the shiva mourning period over Ben-Yosef on Sunday. At their request, they entered the Tomb alone, without any accompaniment or media presence. Bereaved father Noam Livnat, who is an IDF disabled veteran, was helped by friends into the compound and out of it.
More than 1,000 worshipers then entered the Tomb, including members of the Fogel family of Itamar, and were heartbroken to see it defiled by Shechem's Muslim rabble again, after so much effort had been put into renovating it. The soot on the walls was evidence of the two attempts by an Arab mob and "PA police" to torch the compound after Livnat's murder.
In addition, there were clear signs that a pickaxe had been taken to the lower part of the dome above the tomb.
Samaria local authority leader Gershon Mesika demanded that Israel retake full control of the Tomb. "Had the IDF controlled the location instead of the outrageous decision to station PA police terrorists, the barbaric terror attack would have been avoided," Mesika said.
The sadness of the visit turned into anger and confrontations ensued, resulting in the arrest of dozens of Jews.
Photos from the visit showing damage done by Muslim vandals:
