Photo Credit: Samaria (Shomron) Regional Council
Jewish repair workers renovate Joseph's Tomb after midnight, escorted by the IDF. (November 2015)

IDF soldiers escorted Jewish workers on an overnight mission to repair the latest nightmare of destruction left by hate-filled Palestinian Authority attackers at the Tomb of the Biblical Patriarch Joseph.

The renovations came approximately two weeks after the Arabs had bashed up and then burned the sacred site.

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They were carried out under an initiative by the Samaria (Shomron) Regional Council together with the regional brigade of the IDF, according to the Hebrew-language NRG news site.

Special construction workers entered the area after midnight with a military escort to perform the necessary comprehensive repairs on the ancient tomb.

A group of some 30 Breslov hasidim subsequently entered Joseph’s Tomb to make repairs to the site on the orders of fugitive Rabbi Eliezer Berland, the spiritual leader of Shuvu Banim, but did not coordinate their trip with the IDF. The group was attacked by local Arabs; five were arrested by police in the Samaria Jewish city of Ariel, according to a report on the Hebrew-language Kikar Shabbat website. In addition, one of the hasidim who was left behind at the Tomb was set afire by the Arabs.

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Rishon LeZion – rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Hazon Ovadia – made a point of visiting the Tomb the next night with security provided by the IDF. The goal was to make an accurate assessment of the damage to the site perpetrated by the terrorists – including the Palestinian Authority police who participated in the attack – and to protest that damage.

The convoy in which the esteemed rabbi traveled was attacked by Palestinian Authority Arabs, who hurled rocks at the vehicles as they traveled towards the site, which is located in the ancient city of Shechem – today referred to by Arabs as “Nablus.”

Under the Oslo Accords, the city is controlled by the Palestinian Authority, but the PA is legally required to allow Jews free access to the Tomb.

Following the visit of the chief rabbi, the Tomb was torched again by enraged Palestinian Authority Arabs.


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Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.