JERUSALEM, Israel -- In an overnight operation, rabbis, engineers, electricians, stone cutters and other contractors joined IDF forces to repair Joseph's Tomb in Nablus (biblical Shechem), which was overrun and severely damaged in an arson attack by an Arab mob several weeks ago.
Israelis, accompanied by Israeli security forces, are allowed to visit the biblical patriarch's tomb once a month. It is a particularly meaningful site, historically and spiritually, for Jewish people.
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan called it "an historic and moving moment."
"Joy and sadness are mixed," Arutz Sheva quoted Dagan in a translation from his Hebrew statement. "On the one hand, we merit, together with IDF soldiers and commanders, members of the Samaria Regional Council, representatives of the official State of Israel to fix even a little of the awful damage of the barbarity of the Palestinian Authority, which vandalized such a holy place to the Jewish people and a site of historical importance to all humanity."
"On the other hand, you see the awful destruction," Dagan continued. "To come here at midnight like thieves in the night to a place that is without a doubt ours is not an easy feeling."
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas officially condemned the arson attack on Joseph's Tomb, appearing to follow similar criticism by some in the international community, but he and other Palestinian officials openly praise those carrying out terror attacks from the P.A.'s headquarters in Ramallah.
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