Even if it is in Shechem, Lebanon, Gaza, Jerusalem, Galilee, Golan, or anywhere where our army is. Every death is a tragedy for the country, the families. But that is part of our being in this land, when we relinquish control because our enemies kill us anywhere, we relinquish moral right to any part of our country. So your argument is wrong, totally wrong #1!!

There is no money to prepare for natural desasters, no money to pay government clerks and other workers, teachers, university teachers a decent salary, the streets and highways are in a terrible state, holocaust-survivors are living in poverty..... But there is apparently enough money to send in troops, to repair and protect a place that is ALLEDGEDLY the resting place of a mystic figure, no one actually can proof existed. Yeah that sounds about reasonable!

A country that dumps its holy places, is a country that does not last. The supposed reason for the second aliyah was anti semitism in russia.. if we cant prevent jewish graves from being desecrated, what are we doin here ?

Are you serious? Protecting your ancestor's graves is not worth it? Is this how you feel when vandals destroy jewish cemeteries around the world? It isn't worth protecting it? Where is your Jewish pride? If we show the world that we are ready to die protecting our heritage, then maybe they will respect us.

this isn't your decision, is it? The decision is correct. Israelis don't destroy Islams sites and have every right to demand that our sites be kept well also. What would happen if the Dome of the rock were vandalized? They desecrate all Jewish sites and must not be allowed to do so.

PLEASE REPAIR THE TOMB OF JOSEPH ! and make sure they dont make the tomb a relic and do the very thing that is against monotheism.errrrrrrrrrrrr Like idol worship at Joseph's tomb !

NO LIGHT AT THE TOMB ?

Watch your disrespectful mouth willie who ever you are. You are talking about my Father.

If Israel was to have desecrated any mosque the way this tomb was desecrated what an outcry from the UN and the nations there would have been!

I find it interesting...Judaism is steeped in traditions..every day of the Jewish calendar is dedicated to something relating to the laws .... However, why , with all the 600+ laws mandated by the Talmud, were Pilgrimages to Jerusalem ignored for almost 2000 years? Arabs have been going to Mecca and Jerusalem much longer than that, and their mandate is ' Mecca' at least 'once' before they depart the planet... So what's so important about Jerusalem now for the Jews, that they are willing to kill for it? Does anyone see something wrong with this picture or is it just me??

Pilgrimages to Jerusalem were not abandoned, they were replaced by prayers at the western wall The way you try to put islam in front fj Judaism despite history has betrayed you... Sorry,wahabi...

# 13. It is you as you do not know of what you speak in total ignorance and laziness from reading and learning the true facts of the matter. Unless it is hatred , another form of stupidity and mental laziness. Besides this report is about Joseph's Tomb, not Jerusalem, so your view is clear in its dumb hatred.

Dear Edit #13 tb -What idiocy girl to say Moslems have been making pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Mecca more than 2,000 years. Islam is only 1,400 years old from about 670 CE/AD. Joseph died over 3.300 years ago. His tomb is not in Jerusalem; Read the article. You are completely incorrect on everything you say -which makes you 100% wrong.

Excavate the tomb and bring back whatever is found to Jerusalem. The Arabs have treated it so poorly that they won't give a damn if we pick up the whole thing and move it. If the excavation finds no bones or artifacts, then at least we won't waste time or energy agonizing over its demise at the hands of the Arabs. Joseph was a pragmatist. He'd do the same thing. Start the excavation tomorrow.

David has the right intentions. Except that more than 3,500 years ago, the biblical patriarch Jacob legally purchased this specific plot of land in Shechem ('Nablus'). Years later, Jacob explicitly gave the plot to his son Joseph as an inheritance for all time (see Genesis 48:22 and Joshua 24:32 for details). Judaism views Joseph's grave as one of the places where the Bible is saying that Jewish ownership of this little country is legal, ironclad - and available for all to see. In this part of the world, legal claims to land have utmost importance. To move Joseh's tomb would be tantamount to denying the Jewish People's biblical responsibility for living in the Land of Israel. And that is not a real option for most of us -

round up all the violent sqatters who defiled the tomb, along with their friends and family. Put them on buses.......then escort them to the border. EXPORT them and take back the land everyone knows is really the land of the Israelites and not that of the squatting crybabies