Some 8,000 Israeli worshipers on Tuesday night visited the tombs of Yehoshua Ben Nun and Kalev Ben Yefuna, located in the Arab village of Kafel Harath, near the city of Ariel.
By TPS
The entry of thousands of Jewish worshipers to Joshua’s Tomb in an Arab village in Samaria was coordinated with the IDF, and occurs several times a year.
This was the largest group to visit this year in honor of the anniversary of the death of Joshua, known in the Torah as Yehoshua Ben Nun, which occurred on Wednesday.
The prayers took place during the night, and under heavy security provided by the Israeli forces.
IDF Captain Dima Skorniakov, the regional defense officer of the Ephraim Brigade, said that they treated the religious event “as a military operation in all its aspects.”
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, who was among the worshipers, stated that “a people that remembers its leaders even after thousands of years will not forget its roots and its land, and we promise that we will be here to guard the holy sites and preserve this land for generations to come.”
Dagan called on the new Knesset, which was sworn in earlier in the day, to find inspiration and learn from Yehoshua Bin Nun, to establish new communities and to return those uprooted from northern Samaria.
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