By Aaron Klein
JERUSALEM – Palestinians yesterday tried to burn down Joseph’s Tomb – Judaism’s third holiest site – according to Palestinian security officials speaking to WND.
It marks the second time the Palestinians attempted to burn down the tomb, located near Nablus, the biblical city of Shechem.
Joseph’s Tomb is the believed burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph, the son of Jacob who was sold by his brothers into slavery and later became viceroy of Egypt.
Palestinian security officials in Nablus said yesterday they were called to the tomb to find 16 burning tires inside the sacred structure.
A Palestinian police official who inspected the site told WND today there was some fire damage to the tomb. He said the Palestinian Authority, fearing embarrassment, immediately formed a joint committee from the PA’s Force 17, Preventative Security Services and Palestinian intelligence, to find out who was behind the fire.
He said patrols were stepped up around the site.
A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said the IDF was not aware of the fire or any unusual activity near the tomb but that it would immediately inquire with the PA.
The move comes after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced last week he would ask Israel’s Defense Ministry to work with the PA to reconstruct and restore the tomb, parts of which were destroyed by Palestinians, including known PA security officers, in 2000.