Just after the opening shot was fired to mark the 30th anniversary of the Oslo Accords, we got the best lesson about their results. A routine and coordinated convoy of Israeli cars was making its way to Joseph's Tomb in Nablus when Palestinians detonated an IED that injured four IDF soldiers.
The barrage of fire and media brimstone snatched by those who dared to reach Joseph's Tomb is second only to the real barrage hijacked by the military security convoys in Nablus itself. What didn't they say about them? That they are crazy people who risk lives for a grave, that is not why we established an army, that a Muslim sheikh is buried there and what do we have to look for there? IDF soldiers, by the way, were seen dancing in the gravesite with the civilians who arrived.
The question "what do we have to look for there" should perhaps have been addressed to Yitzhak Rabin when he signed the Oslo II Accords in September 1995. The agreement stipulated that the Palestinian Authority would be responsible for protecting the site and ensuring free and safe access for Jews. Many things can be said about the Jewish grave tradition, but it is not worth wasting ammunition about Joseph's Tomb. This is a site that, although it has no archaeological sanction, its religious uniqueness is undeniable. Christians, Muslims and Jews identified the site as Joseph's Tomb and have been praying there for almost a thousand years. Like the Cave of the Patriarchs, Joseph's Tomb has always been seen as one of the symbols of the Jewish connection to this land.
The Palestinians have always understood this. A few months after the agreement was signed, Palestinian forces attacked the tomb compound with gunfire, and five years later, IDF soldier Medhat Yusef, who was hit by Palestinian gunfire and bled to death, was abandoned there while Prime Minister Barak waited for the Palestinian rescue, which arrived an hour too late. The same Barak, by the way, attacked the Oslo II Accords as a minister in the Rabin government. As Yuval Bloomberg quotes in his in-depth new book, "The Oslo Trap" (full disclosure: I edited it), Rabin complimented Barak for making "opposition votes," but clarified: "I didn't believe we would reach such a good agreement. Our security interests are guaranteed."
The State of Israel abandoned Nablus and established a Palestinian Authority on condition that this authority guarantees Israel's security and allows it to maintain its sheep: free access to a holy site. It was Rabin who signed, not Orit Strock. The Palestinians never honored the agreement, but the Jews (sorry, the "settlers") are denounced for daring to keep trying to reach Joseph's Tomb. Civil liberties in Israel in 2023 are apparently limited to the right to demonstrate.
Were soldiers injured to protect madmen who want to pray in the grave? Recall that a city scout was killed not long ago to protect crazy people who went out to spend time in Tel Aviv. Don't roll your eyes. The enemy treats these as "settlers." Only we, in our goodness and innocence, insist that there is a difference. We are told that if we only draw an imaginary line and do not cross it even with a finger, the Palestinians will be kind enough to give up the dream of a Palestinian state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and stop slaughtering us. They talk incessantly about the need for a "political agreement," and don't blink when the Palestinians beep at the only serious agreement signed here. The Jewish desire to pray at a holy site is marked as madness, Palestinian murderousness as a decree of fate. 30 years later, we are supposed to be smart enough to understand that we don't have to ask why we pray in Nablus, but why we should abandon it.
From time to time, I am invited to join the armored convoy going to Joseph's Tomb. I always want to, and I always find an excuse. Also for logistical reasons, because who is actually comfortable going to Nablus in the middle of the night, but I won't lie, also out of fear. Every time I am happy and proud to discover that there are heroes among us who are willing to take this path. Together with the dedicated IDF soldiers, who take advantage of the opportunity for operational activity, they make sure that we will not be forced as Jews to close ourselves behind walls and fences. Thanks to them, Israel is freer and safer.
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