Less than a week after the unprecedented daytime visit of the chief rabbis to Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, rabbis from Samaria are raising their voices in protest over the army’s intention to have a Palestinian contractor renovate the Jewish holy site.
Ten rabbis of the Samaria Religious Council issued a statement on Wednesday against what they called a breach of the understandings reached between the IDF and the Jewish residents of Samaria, who say the army told them it would be conducting the much-needed renovation. On October 7, 2000, hours after the tomb was handed over to the Palestinian police, a Palestinian mob ransacked the structure, smashing the dome with pickaxes and setting the compound on fire."
