For the first time since the abandonment of Joseph’s Tomb in 2000, a civilian prayer visit took place this afternoon at the Joseph’s Tomb compound. MK Zvi Sukkot and Samaria Governor Yossi Dagan entered the tomb in the first civilian daytime visit since its abandonment.
MK Sukkot stated: “The rectification of a historical injustice, one that must happen in full.” Dagan declared: “A permanent return to this holy site, with the Israeli flag flying, will restore justice and security.”
The visit was conducted with the approval and backing of Defense Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Boaz Bismuth, and in coordination with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and the commanders of Central Command and the Samaria Brigade.
MK Sukkot and Governor Dagan are leading the campaign for a permanent return to Joseph’s Tomb together with bereaved father Rabbi Dudu Ben Natan, whose son Shuval Ben Natan fell during the Iron Swords War. Shuval had been an active advocate for the return to Joseph’s Tomb.
Until now, the public campaign had secured morning visits to the site, building on earlier nighttime visits. This afternoon’s entry marks a significant escalation in the effort to restore a permanent military presence at Joseph’s Tomb and to re-establish the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva, which was uprooted when the site was abandoned in 2000.
For 23 years, the Samaria Regional Council has been organizing monthly visits to Joseph’s Tomb to keep the site present in Israeli public consciousness. Until today, these visits have taken place exclusively at night. Following the breakthrough of morning visits, this is the first time a civilian afternoon entry has been permitted.
Samaria Governor Yossi Dagan welcomed the historic development, emphasizing its national and moral significance: “This is a meaningful step toward historical rectification and the restoration of full Israeli sovereignty over the holy compound of Joseph’s Tomb. Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, and over our holy sites, is not merely a legal or security matter. It is recognition of historical justice and of our right to this land.”
Dagan added, “The situation in which a Jewish presence at Joseph’s Tomb is treated as an exceptional and restricted event must change. Our clear objective is to return the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva to its rightful place within the compound, and to see the Israeli flag flying above Joseph’s Tomb.”
Dagan expressed gratitude to Defense Minister Israel Katz, the Judea and Samaria Division commander, the Samaria Brigade commander, and the Border Police commander for Judea and Samaria, “as well as to the commanders and fighters who escorted the visit, and to the volunteers of the Joseph’s Tomb and Holy Sites Administration of the Samaria Regional Council, who have been accompanying these visits with dedication for years.”
MK Zvi Sukkot, chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense subcommittee on Judea and Samaria, thanked Defense Minister Katz for approving the move and stated: “As part of the broader campaign we are leading for a full Jewish return to Joseph’s Tomb, we were privileged today to hold the first Mincha prayer service during a visit conducted entirely in daylight. This is an important and meaningful step in the process of rectification. Further steps will follow until we reach our goal: a full Jewish return to Joseph’s Tomb.”
Sukkot emphasized that the return to Joseph’s Tomb “is the rectification of the injustice of abandoning the site on October 7, 2000, when Israel fled from terrorism and surrendered its territory for the first time in the face of escalating terror.” In his words, “This is a moral and security rectification of the highest order, one that must happen in full.” Sukkot also thanked the IDF forces who escorted the visit, and Samaria Governor Yossi Dagan for joining him in leading the effort to restore a Jewish presence at Joseph’s Tomb.