The IDF says it will investigate and discipline a reservist who was documented davening at the kever of Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen near Itamar, after dozens of Jews entered the site during the Selichos period to daven at the holy site.
The kever, located in the village of Awarta in Area B, has long been visited by Jews seeking to daven at the burial place of Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen. The latest visit drew attention after footage showed the IDF reservist participating in the tefillos.
According to a report by Galai Tzahal (IDF Radio), the soldier is expected to be questioned by the brigade commander and subsequently face disciplinary action. The IDF acknowledged that since the beginning of the Selichos period, dozens of Jews have been entering kevarim of figures from Tanach situated in Area B.
The IDF said it has thus far refrained from taking action to prevent the visits because forces in the area are occupied with missions considered more pressing. However, the decision to take disciplinary action against the reservist prompted strong criticism from Jewish activists in the hilltop communities.
Activist Ariel Danino said Jewish residents of the region have routinely traveled through and entered Area B for decades, arguing that the incident involving the soldier was hardly unusual.
“For more than 20 years, residents have been entering Area B every day without coordination. It happens every day. Members of Knesset and government ministers drive home through Area B,” he wrote.
Danino pointed specifically to the Gilad Route, a major roadway in the Shomron that runs through Area B, as evidence that Jews regularly travel through territory under that designation.
“Stop selling people the illusion that Area B is beyond the mountains of darkness and that Jews are forbidden from entering it,” he wrote.
Danino added that requiring prior IDF coordination every time a Jewish resident enters Area B would create an enormous logistical burden because of how frequently residents travel through such areas.
“If the IDF wants every entry into Area B coordinated with it, great. They’ll start getting 800 phone calls a day from civilians who want to drive from Har Bracha to Kedumim,” he added.
Elisha Yered similarly condemned the reaction to the incident, objecting in particular to descriptions portraying the reservist as having simply entered a Palestinian village rather than visiting a longstanding Jewish holy site.
“This was not ‘in a Palestinian village,’ but at the tomb of Eleazar son of Aaron the Priest near Itamar – a holy site where Jews have been praying for many years.”
Yered maintained that merely entering Area B is not prohibited by law and said Jews have every right to visit and daven at the kevarim of tzaddikim located there.
“What kind of disgrace is this, and why is this even newsworthy?!” he wrote.
no soldier in the IDF should daven according to the IDF.
Terrible. Crime of the century. Should get a life sentence.