A group of MKs from the Likud and Religious Zionism parties marched on Sunday evening towards the ruins of the community of Homesh in northern Samaria.
MKs Bezalel Smotrich, Orit Strook, Itamar Ben Gvir and Ofir Sofer (Religious Zionism), as well as MK Shlomo Karhi (Likud), sought to strengthen the students of the Homesh yeshiva following the loss of their friend, Yehuda Dimentman, in this past Thursday’s shooting attack. The MKs plan to spend the night with the yeshiva students.
"Since last night, two days after the horrific attack, the political echelon has decided to lay siege to the community of Homesh and stifle the yeshiva until it ceases to exist. The Israeli government is run by Peace Now," Smotrich charged.
"We have not seen such a weak response since the days of Oslo. Blocking the road to Homesh to Jews and the siege intended to stifle the yeshiva in response to this attack is a shame and a disgrace and constitutes a reward for terrorism," he added.
"We will go up to the community to be with the students and I call on Knesset members from all factions to whom Zionism and Israeli deterrence are important to join us in lifting the siege on Homesh. This is exactly what Knesset members' immunity is meant for," said Smotrich.
Earlier on Sunday, the IDF accused right-wing activists of violence against Israeli soldiers near the scene of last week’s terrorist attack.
“Earlier this morning (Sunday), hundreds of local Israeli residents arrived at the Homesh outpost,” the IDF Spokesperson said. “The residents acted violently towards the security forces, breaching barricades and entering the outpost, aiming to establish illegal structures on site.”
“IDF troops, the Israeli Border Police and the Israel Police attempted to block the residents from entering the location. The residents vandalized military property and blocked the troops’ passage. An IDF soldier was lightly injured after being hit by a resident’s vehicle.”
“The IDF condemns all violence against the security forces, and is determined to maintain the security of civilians and its forces while enforcing the law and preventing any illegal activity.”
Samaria Regional Council chairman Yossi Dagan pushed back against the claim Sunday evening, calling the IDF statement “manipulative”.
“I’m shocked by the manipulative statement by an IDF spokesperson regarding students from the Homesh yeshiva. Yehuda’s grave is still fresh after the terror attack he was murdered in, yet the IDF spokesperson is smearing his friends for something they didn’t do.”
Dagan went on to say that video footage from confrontations Sunday morning between soldiers and activists at Homesh showed that the soldiers were not attacked by the activists, and that the only incidents were in fact the reverse.
“The only thing that comes near to violence in the videos is a soldier shoving a civilian.”