Stop the Desecration of Torah, Return the Beis Medrash

Israeli Police seize a yeshiva and turn it into a police station

At 5:00 AM on the morning of 11 Nissan border police took control of the building of the Beit Medrash of ‘Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai.’ The yeshiva is located in Yitzhar and is under the leadership of Rav Yitzchak Ginsburgh.

The police presented the educational administrator of the yeshiva, Rabbi Elitzur, a seizure order of the building of the Beit Medrash. The order was signed by Commander Nitzan Alon, the very same commander who is responsible for signing dozens of orders banning Jews without trial from Judea and Samaria solely because of who they are.

Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai was established in 5742 (1982) at Joseph’s tomb in Shechem. In 5761 (2001) when the government evacuated Shechem and gave it to the hands of Arabs, the yeshiva moved to Yitzhar.

Since then, dozens of students have been learning in the new Beit Medrash. The yeshiva building (which was confiscated) was donated in memory of Rav Hillel Eliyahu Lieberman HY”D who was brutally by Arabs in Shechem.

The spokesman of Yitzhar responded to the seizure of the yeshiva and said, “We are witnessing hysterical and historical actions that have not occurred since the establishment of the State of Israel. The transformation of a Yeshiva into an army base clearly crosses a red line. Even the mosques where every day leaders call for the destruction of the State of Israel are not treated this way.”

“Just to remind everyone, the building of Od Yosef Chai overlooks a mosque that the Supreme Court ordered demolished many years ago. For one reason or another, the security forces have shown extreme patience with them. We call on the Israeli Government to leave the yeshiva immediately.”