Nearly 25 years after abandoning Joseph’s Tomb amid deadly clashes, Israeli defense officials are preparing to assess whether to retake control over the holy site.
Located deep within the heart of Judea and Samaria, the tomb in in Shechem (Nablus) houses the remains of the biblical Joseph, son of Jacob and one of Judaism’s founding patriarchs. The site remains under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction requiring heavy military escorts for any Jewish visits after the IDF withdrew in 2000.
Israel’s withdrawal came after escalating violence made the isolated tomb untenable. In 1996, Arab terrorists killed six Israeli soldiers during an attack on the compound. Four years later, Border Police Cpl. Madhat Yusuf bled to death eerily on October 7 while Israeli and PA officers tried negotiating his evacuation during another firefight.
Within hours of the IDF’s evacuation, Arab rioters stormed the compound and torched the Od Yosef Hai yeshiva that had operated there since the 1980s. They burned Jewish religious books, damaged the structure, and painted the holy tomb’s distinctive white dome green before thankfully international pressure forced the PA to restore the original color.
Since then, organized Jewish groups have been limited to heavily guarded monthly visits that routinely spark violent confrontations with the local Arabs. However, recent political pressure has prompted the first formal discussion about a permanent return.
MK Zvi Sukkot, who chairs the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria, convened what sources describe to Yedioth Ahronoth as a breakthrough session where IDF officials committed to delivering an operational assessment within six weeks.
“Joseph’s Tomb must once again host a permanent Jewish presence as part of our sovereign responsibility in Judea and Samaria. Leaving the site in the hands of the Palestinian Authority harms both national security and our values,” said Sukkot.
Samaria Regional Council Head Yossi Dagan, who is spearheading the initiative alongside Sukkot, revealed during the session a 2000 official IDF protocol stating that the withdrawal was intended to be temporary.
“No nation in the world gives up its holiest site,” Dagan declared. “After October 7, it’s clear to everyone: when we flee from terror, it chases us. Returning to Joseph’s Tomb will restore security in Shechem and across Israel.”
Other senior defense officials who attended the meeting reportedly included Col. Lahat Shemesh, Deputy Head of the Civil Administration, and a representative from IDF Central Command.
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