Israel Police received a complaint from IDF sources overnight Motzei Shabbos about a group of 20 Israelis, mostly Chareidi teenagers, who entered Lebanon after crossing the northern border.
Northern District police arrived at the scene and, after coordinating with military officials, detained some of the suspects near the border and transferred them for questioning at the Kiryat Shmona police station.
The teens were reportedly trying to reach the kever of the Amora Rav Ashi, which lies on the Blue Line dividing Israel and Lebanon.
“Israel Police reminds the public that access to the areas adjacent to the border fence is prohibited and dangerous, especially crossing the border into Lebanon, which is illegal under the law, with a penalty of up to 4 years in prison for violators,” the police spokesperson stated.
When the IDF withdrew from South Lebanon in 2000, there was one issue holding up the deployment of United Nations peacekeepers – the site of Rav Ashi’s kever. Lebanon claimed that Rav Ashi’s kever is a holy site for them, saying that the site is the tomb of a Shi’ite Muslim, Sheikh Abbad, a founder of the Shi’ite movement in Lebanon who lived about 500 years ago.
Several options were considered, including barricading the tomb to prevent both Jews and Muslims from visiting. Ultimately, it was decided to literally divide the site in half – the border fence cuts right through the middle.
This solution was one of the last issues settled between Israel and Lebanon in the wake of the Israeli withdrawal, ending the 15 years of warfare between the South Lebanese Army (SLA) aided by the IDF and Lebanese guerrillas led by Hezbollah in South Lebanon’s “Security Zone.”
However, for all intents and purposes, the kever has been off-limits since then as the close proximity of Hezbollah rendered the area extremely dangerous for Jews.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
Morons !!!!
Did they really cross the border? It sounds like they just got too close to the border for the Israeli government and its army.
There is a lot of missing info here.
First of all, the kever is nowhere near the Northern border. It is half way down the east/west border.
Second of all, there is no need to cross the border to go to the kever as it is right on the border and is physically fully accessible from the Israeli side. The Lebanese side is occupied by a UNIFIL base which is why it has been dangerous to go there in recent years thanks to the close proximity of Hezbollah.
So either they were arrested for entering a closed military zone – though there’s no reason why it should be now. Or they crossed the WESTERN border unintentionally because the fence is no longer up and there was nobody guarding to stop them – which there should have been.
Either way, it sounds like they were arrested because of the army’s neglect in securing the area.
So what’s the truth?
Where is the source that’s its Rav Ashi?
They used very bad judgment; it is against Halacha to place one’s life in danger.
Why only some of them and not all of them?