Photo Credit: IDF
Border Police take charge of Yitzhar's Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva while students are on vacation.

Approximately 30 Border Police officers continue to live in the quarters of the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva in Yitzhar, in northern Samaria, even though all of the students are away for the annual vacation during the month of Nissan in which Passover falls.

Border Police spokesman Shai Hachimi confirmed for The Jewish Press that the men are staying in the yeshiva dorms, but it is not clear what they are doing there.

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They made big headlines three weeks ago by setting up camp at the yeshiva after some of the student allegedly were among a mob of idiots who stormed the tent of IDF soldiers who were guarding Yitzhar from Arab terrorists. The attackers- make that criminals – ransacked the tent and destroyed army and personal property as a reward for the soldier’s serving the country while others are free to learn Torah – or, as in this case, not only no learn Torah but also violate it.

Some teenager from Yitzhar also took out his anger against the government, armed forces and police by puncturing the vehicle of the commander of the IDF Brigade in the area.

The vandalism supposed was “price tag” revenge for the demolition of homes by police. The “crime” of the homeowners was that they built without permits even though some of the houses have been standing for years. But the destruction undoubtedly was justified on the basis of it being carried out in the name of human rights, just as price tag violence is committed in the name of God.

People on the yeshiva have accused the government of “price tag” revenge by sending in the Border Police, many of them non-Jews, to take expel people out of their homes and then tear them down. The invasion of the yeshiva was icing on the cake but not the last word.

Police on Wednesday searched the home of Yeshiva Ode Yosef Chai’s head Rabbi Yosef Elitzur, while he was not home, and confiscated a computer. The rabbi told The Jewish Press he does not know what the police were looking for but speculated the raid may have been connected to the controversial book “Torat HaMelech,” which states rabbinic rulings on when a Jew is allowed to kill a non-Jew.

Liberal non-free thinkers in the office of the attorney general have tried to make a case the past several years against several rabbis for incitement because they endorsed the book.

Regardless of the intentions of the police, the yeshiva remains under the control of the Border Police.

The student’s vacation ends next week, but the police have said no one may enter,

Yeshiva officials have charged the government with trying to shut down the yeshiva. If true, such a measure would only encourage more violence.

Just as the government showed up to take over an empty yeshiva and capture headlines to convince ignorant Israelis that the police have put an end to violence from Yitzhar, it can be expected that the yeshiva  will not open for a day. Maybe even two days, or three, just enough to make a big impression before the Border Police leave.

In the meantime, the Border Police must be bored sitting around all day sipping coffee, preventing non-existent students from committing violence.

If they stay there long enough, at least the Jewish bones, maybe they will learn a bit of Torah.

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Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu is a graduate in journalism and economics from The George Washington University. He has worked as a cub reporter in rural Virginia and as senior copy editor for major Canadian metropolitan dailies. Tzvi wrote for Arutz Sheva for several years before joining the Jewish Press.