MK Yuri Stern (National Union) says that the army must once again conquer Joseph's Tomb in Shechem. His remarks follow a dramatic visit by 500 Jews to the holy site this past Thursday night, under IDF protection, and several incidents of Arab arson and damage to the area.
"We should have re-conquered it a long time ago," Stern told Arutz-7 this morning. "At present, its status as an isolated enclave amidst Arab-populated territory is dangerous for our soldiers... We must also capitalize much more strongly on the fact that the Arabs have once again vandalized a holy site - they made great capital out of our presence in the Church of the Nativity at the time... The world views acts of this nature very gravely , but we don't emphasize them enough... Our publicity campaigns are very poor. For one thing, all the budget cuts to the Foreign Ministry affect, first of all, our public relations - we spend very little on this, compared to the billions that Saudi Arabia and the others spend..."
Arab vandals of Shechem have burnt Joseph's Tomb several times PA forces forced the IDF to withdraw from the site at the beginning of the Oslo War three years ago. Most recently, this past Friday morning, after the visiting Jews had left, Arabs threw burning tires into the complex. The Od Yosef Chai yeshiva was in operation there for over two decades until the Oslo War began.
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, one of the 500 visitors to Joseph's Tomb on Thursday night, was left almost speechless in describing his visit:
"It was just - just something! We were, at the same time, both rejoicing [at our return] and crying. We came out filled with soot from the fire-damage there... We saw the fulfillment of the verse, 'Jacob's house will be aflame' - even though those cursed ones who keep burning the site don't realize that in the end, they will be the ones to be consumed... Afterwards, we went to nearby Elon Moreh, which was just a beautiful site - happy Jewish children everywhere, and sukkahs all around [for the holiday], and beautiful, built-up houses. My father [Rishon LeTzion Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu] said, as we were eating afterwards in one of the sukkahs, that there is nothing that makes him happier than to see the growing Jewish communities in the Land of Israel such as Elon Moreh and Kedumim... It's true: whoever wants to be happy, should come to these places, and he'll see life, joy, creativity, action, doing - he'll see Redemption! We need not only talk about Redemption; one can *see* it here!..."
"We should have re-conquered it a long time ago," Stern told Arutz-7 this morning. "At present, its status as an isolated enclave amidst Arab-populated territory is dangerous for our soldiers... We must also capitalize much more strongly on the fact that the Arabs have once again vandalized a holy site - they made great capital out of our presence in the Church of the Nativity at the time... The world views acts of this nature very gravely , but we don't emphasize them enough... Our publicity campaigns are very poor. For one thing, all the budget cuts to the Foreign Ministry affect, first of all, our public relations - we spend very little on this, compared to the billions that Saudi Arabia and the others spend..."
Arab vandals of Shechem have burnt Joseph's Tomb several times PA forces forced the IDF to withdraw from the site at the beginning of the Oslo War three years ago. Most recently, this past Friday morning, after the visiting Jews had left, Arabs threw burning tires into the complex. The Od Yosef Chai yeshiva was in operation there for over two decades until the Oslo War began.
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, one of the 500 visitors to Joseph's Tomb on Thursday night, was left almost speechless in describing his visit:
"It was just - just something! We were, at the same time, both rejoicing [at our return] and crying. We came out filled with soot from the fire-damage there... We saw the fulfillment of the verse, 'Jacob's house will be aflame' - even though those cursed ones who keep burning the site don't realize that in the end, they will be the ones to be consumed... Afterwards, we went to nearby Elon Moreh, which was just a beautiful site - happy Jewish children everywhere, and sukkahs all around [for the holiday], and beautiful, built-up houses. My father [Rishon LeTzion Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu] said, as we were eating afterwards in one of the sukkahs, that there is nothing that makes him happier than to see the growing Jewish communities in the Land of Israel such as Elon Moreh and Kedumim... It's true: whoever wants to be happy, should come to these places, and he'll see life, joy, creativity, action, doing - he'll see Redemption! We need not only talk about Redemption; one can *see* it here!..."