Jewish Pilgrims Allowed into Awarta Overnight
IDF soldiers escorted some 400 Jewish worshipers to the tombs of Eleazar and Itamar in Awarta overnight.

by Gavriel Queenann, Arutz Sheva
February 2, 2012

Village of Awarta
 

IDF forces escorted hundreds of Jewish worshipers to the tombs of the biblical figures Eleazar and Itamar in the Samaria village of Awarta late Tuesday evening.

Head of Awarta village council Sami Awwad told the PA affiliated Ma'an News several buses of Israelis and a large force of soldiers arrived in the village at around 11 p.m. and stayed until 5 a.m.

An IDF spokesman confirmed 400 Israeli worshipers accompanied by soldiers visited Awarta overnight.

Jewish tombs and holy sites in PA administered areas are inaccessible to Israeli Jews without a military escort and are frequently desecrated by local Arabs.

Tomb of Itamar the Priest in Awarta
 

Such visits are coordinated between IDF Civil Administration officials and Palestinian Authority security forces on a sporadic basis.

However, security coordination between IDF and PA forces has been sporadic and the size and frequency of Israeli visits has been limited.

Reaching the gravesite without an IDF escort has proved a dangerous undertaking for Jews that can have lethal consequences.

On 24 April 2011, Israeli Ben Yosef Livnat was gunned down in cold blood by a PA security officer in the pre-dawn hours as he sought to reach the tomb. Four of his companions were wounded.

The PA inquiry into the incident found that the men who shot at Livnat acted in "breach of the protocol" for opening fire.

Tomb of Eleazar in Awarta, circa 1880.
 

However, the commander of the IDF’s Samaria Brigade said in closed conversations that Livnat was murdered and that the PA police officer who opened fire intended to kill Jews.

Additionally, Jews from other countries who wish to visit such sites are barred from doing so by PA authorities, as well.

Last week, four American Jews seeking access to Joseph's tomb in Shechem were confronted by PA police at gunpoint and taken into custody.

Awarta is a known hotspot of anti-Israeli radicalism and has seen frequent violence and unrest.

The murderers of five members of the Fogel family in the nearby Jewish community of Itamar hailed from Awarta.

Tomb of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, today.
 

Haredim pray near the tomb of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, in Awarta.