A Charedi family from Jerusalem accidentally entered Shechem this afternoon while on their way to the Jewish town of Har Bracha located nearby. The family, who quickly understood that they had made a mistake in directions, called Israeli security forces and told them that they were in the heart of Shechem. Only after some very long and tense moments were the family evacuated from the city by security forces. In the meantime, the father had drawn and cocked his gun.

The family was comprised of Avraham Levi, the Gabbai of Beit Knesset “Zechor l’Avraham” in Jerusalem, his wife, and their daughter. Levi said: “I was traveling with my family towards Har Bracha in the Shomron, the trip was relatively uneventful. I had been given directions that told me that I needed to pass the town of Huwara. For some reason, I kept going straight from that point on. I am not sure why but I guess the signs must not have been clear enough. As I am driving I notice that all the signs suddenly turned to Arabic and that I no longer saw a sign of anything Israeli at all, not even license plates.”

I called the person whom we were supposed to meet in Har Bracha and explained my surroundings to him. He thought I was in Huwara and that I should keep going. I told him I would after the traffic light changed. He responded in a surprised manner that there were no traffic lights on the entire route. He immediately called security forces and put me on a conference call with them. I explained to them what I saw and they knew exactly where I was and told me I was in Shechem. Then they came to rescue us.”’

B’Hasdei Hashem the Levi family was evacuated without incident from the Palestinian city.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)