Uzi Dayan: Give Jews Free Access to Joseph's Tomb
by Aryeh Ben Hayim
26 april 2011, Nissan 22, 5771
Major General (reserves) Uzi Dayan called upon the government to open the Tomb of Joseph to Jewish worshipers on a daily basis. "We cannot give up these places," he said.
The former head of Israel's National Security Council and of the IDF's Central Command expressed his conviction that the IDF would apprehend the Palestinian Authority "policemen" who murdered Ben Yosef Livnat at Joseph's Tomb. "This Passover we made two Passover sacrifices, Daniel Viflic who was murdered by rocket fire from the Hamas terrorists in Gaza as well as Ben Yosef Livnat". http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/143618
In referring to the opinion that neither side was innocent in the shooting at Joseph's Tomb, Dayan replied, "There are those who make light of the matter and even call this an 'incident' rather than a terrorist attack. So apparently Hebrew is a beautiful language but this was a terrorist attack. Policemen fired on Jewish worshipers, and this is murder. True, they did not coordinate their entry but here we are talking about the eve of a holiday."
In his opinion, the IDF occasionally forgets its proper role. "Our job is not to make explanations for the Palestinians but to apprehend those responsible. There must be an exhaustive investigation; one should punish those responsible. It's clear to everyone that the Palestinian police are going to do nothing, especially in light of the fact that we are even providing them with excuses. One must not rely on them. When I was the head of Central Command after the events of the Western Wall Tunnel [1996] we drew up a blacklist of all Palestinian policemen that we suspected of involvement in the terrorist attacks, we went over the list, we arrested those whom we had to and we eliminated those whom we had to."
Dayan concludes that the current situation at Joseph's tomb is insufferable. "Following the events that led to the killing of [the Druze Army soldier] Madhat Yusuf at Joseph's Tomb [in October 2000, upon the outbreak of the Second Intifada, aka The Oslo War] the Tomb has been burnt; a mosque was built there, and then the tomb was again repaired. It's legitimate to debate whether to station troops there or not but it's not legitimate that [the PA] won't allow Jews to pray there. It's necessary that people should arrive at Joseph's Tomb every day as well as to the Peace on Israel Synagogue in Jericho. Of course one has to coordinate, but one must again open up these places, otherwise we are de facto giving up on them."
"To my sorrow the media, that does not always remember all the details, sets the agenda. They deal all the time, and justifiably so, with Gilad Shalit, but don't recall those who were killed in that incident [a reference to two soldiers from Shalit's crew who were killed simultaneously with his abduction, ed.]. Also, in the Joseph's Tomb attack they mention that Ben Yoseph Livnat was murdered, but it's necessary to mention also all those who were wounded and are fighting for their lives. It is necessary to follow the security agenda rather than the media agenda," he added.
Am Ysrael Hai - The people of Israel lives - Het volk van Israel leeft
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fl5bGvUKs8
Joseph's Tomb Terror Victim Out of Danger
by Hillel Fendel
26 april 2011, Nissan 22, 5771
The “mortally wounded” Jew who was shot at Joseph’s Tomb late Saturday night is no longer in mortal danger, hospital sources report. The family of Ben Yosef Livnat began sitting shiva, the traditional mourning period that was delayed by the Passover holiday, on Monday night.
Dr. Boaz Tadmor, Deputy Director of Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah, said this morning that the wounded victim in the terrorist incident “was operated on over the night, and his condition is now termed ‘serious.’ I am happy to report that his life is not in danger.” Another victim is listed in moderate condition, and two others were hurt lightly.
Palestinian Authority policemen fired on a group of worshipers who arrived to pray at the holy site, killing one and wounding four. The Jewish group did not coordinate its entry into the site in advance, but many Jews often arrive at the site in a similar “uncoordinated” manner; they say that the once-a-month authorized entry is not sufficient to meet Jewish worshipers’ needs.
In any event, the punishment for unauthorized entry to Joseph’s Tomb is not death, nor is it an act of war, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has called upon the PA to deal harshly for those responsible for what Defense Minister Ehud Barak called “murder.”
The names of the two above-mentioned victims, for prayer purposes, are Uriel ben [son of] Ahuva and Yitzchak ben Sheina Malkah. They are both 18 years old, from Tiberias and Jerusalem, respectively. “Both of them must recite the HaGomel blessing for having been saved from death,” Dr. Tadmor said. “The bullets missed vital organs by only centimeters. I hope that they will be able to return to their families speedily.”
The IDF. Israel Police and Shabak are continuing to investigate the shooting. The PA claims that the group did not abide by its men’s calls to stop, broke through a checkpoint, threw rocks at the PA policemen and tried to run one over. IDF sources stated that initial findings do not support these claims.
After the murderous attack, Arab vandals burned and damaged the holy site of Joseph's Tomb. The extent of the damage is not yet known. Despite the PA's consent to maintain and preserve the holy site, its citizens have damaged, burnt and vandalized the site several times.
25-year-old Ben Yosef Livnat, who was murdered in the attack, is survived by his wife, four children, parents, and two siblings. A grandson of Lechi fighter Azriel Livnat and nephew of Science and Culture Minister Limor Livnat, he was named for Shlomo Ben-Yosef, was the first Jewish fighter to be hanged by the British, in 1938.
No Arrests In Joseph's Tomb Shooting
by Gavriel Queenann
26 april 2011, Nissan 22, 5771
No arrests have been made in the murder of Ben Yosef Livnat and wounding of four other Breslover hassidim at Joseph's Tomb on Sunday, the Ma'an news agency reports.
The report says PA security forces spokesman, Adnan Al Dameer, patently rejected previous reports in Israeli media saying such an arrest had been made. The identity of the murderers is known, as they were PA policemen.
Dameer said the subpoena issued to the PA officers involved in the shooting was only intended to hear them explain the chain of events that led to the shooting. Dammer continued to blame the victims for the attack, emphasizing that they arrived without prior coordination.
Such arrivals are not uncommon and the accepted method of dealing with them is to detain the Israelis until IDF personnel can arrive and escort them away. The PA policemen were certainly aware of this frequent occurrence.
Demeer also denied reports that a tripartite commission of inquiry consisting of American, Israeli, and PA officials to examine the shooting would be established. Instead, he said, a PA committee would be established. He said the PA had no intention of 'expanding' the inquiry beyond its own ranks.
In response, National Union chairman MK Yaakov Katz asked Israel's government to order the IDF to immediately apprehend the PA officers responsible for the incident.
"If the Defense Minister will not do it." Katz said. "I call on Speaker Rivlin to convene the Knesset for a special session to discuss the matter. Israel can not allow a situation to continue where in parts of the country, areas where there is de facto sovereignty, Jews are massacred when they pray. This is no different from the situation that once prevailed in Europe, where there was no protection for the Jewish people."
Palestinian Authority Police Kill Israeli near Joseph's Tomb
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
24 april 2011, Nissan 20, 5771
Palestinian Authority police Sunday morning shot and killed one Israeli and wounded four others after they prayed at Joseph's Tomb (Kever Yosef) around 6 a.m. Sunday (11 p.m. Saturday night EDT). The murder victim (pictured below) was identified as 24-year-old Ben Yosef Livnat, a nephew of Likud Minister Limor Livnat and father of four children.
Arabs attacked the funeral procession with rocks as it proceeded from his childhood home of Elon Moreh to Jerusalem, where he lived with his wife and four children. At least one car windshield was broken in the rock attacks, but no one was injured. People from Elon Moreh stood by the highway in dozens of cars as the funeral procession passed.
One of the three who were wounded in the shooting attack is in serious condition, and Army helicopters evacuated the injured to a hospital for emergency care. A group of 15 worshippers from the Breslov Chassidic sect had driven to the site and were returning when they were gunned down by Palestinian Authority police in a jeep.
The PA security forces continued to fire at the cars as they fled.
The IDF hurriedly issued a statement that the trip to Kever Yosef was not coordinated with Israeli security forces, and military spokesmen referred to the murder as an "incident" and not an attack.
Kever Yosef is a Jewish holy site that was supposed to be under Israeli control and open to worshippers as stated in previous agreements. However, the government has surrendered the area to Palestinian Authority control, and local Arabs have desecrated it several times.
The Breslov group was known to Palestinian Authority authorities as people who frequently prayed at Kever Yosef without any other intentions, according to Gershon Mesika, chairman of the Shomron (Samaria) Regional Council. He called the shooting attack a “massacre at close range."
Breslovhgroup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRJIP6z5fxI&feature=player_embedded#at=44
National Union Knesset Member Dr. Michael Ben-Ari indirectly blamed the American government for having “trained and armed the enemy army that is called the ‘Palestinian Authority police’ and is directly responsible for the murder at Kever Yosef.”
He called on the Israeli government to restore the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva to Kever Yosef and to confiscate weapons from the Palestinian Authority
The attack on the morning before the last day of the Passover holiday comes less than a month after the savage stabbings of Rabbi Udi Fogel, his wife Ruthie and three of their six young children, including a three-month-old baby, in community of Itamar, also located in Samaria.
Residents of Judea and Samaria frequently have warned that the removal of roadblocks and checkpoints in the area would make it easier for Arab terrorists to stage attacks and would encourage PA police to attack Jews. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has argued that the easing of security measures are “goodwill” measures that strengthen PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s popularity and help him fight terror.