A little over two weeks after the murder of Yehuda Dimentman H’yd in a shooting attack near the Homesh outpost (1 Israeli Dead, 2 Wounded as Terrorists Open Fire Near Homesh in Samaria), the local yeshiva students and teachers continue to be oppressed by IDF and Border Police forces dedicated to restricting their movements and blockading their community to the outside.
A company of IDF soldiers and a Border Police force were stationed at Homesh at the end of Yehuda’s Shiva, and according to the yeshiva staff and students, they have been systematically and sweepingly infringing on their freedom of movement. The Army and Border Police units are busy preventing any attempt to alleviate the living conditions in the outpost, from preventing the delivery of wood for building a shelter from the cold and rain to patrolling around the clock to make sure no one resumes construction activity in the outpost or the yeshiva.
“For the first time in 15 years, vehicles are banned from entering the locality,” said yeshiva general manager Shmuel Vendy. “Since the assassination of Yehuda H’yd, many groups from all over the country have come to strengthen the yeshiva and the settlement in Homesh, and everyone, without an exception, is forced to reach the settlement on foot because of the blockades of the Border Police and the army. Older people, families with babies, are forced to walk a significant distance in the rain and cold because of a new policy that was not here before,” he complained.
According to Vendy, unlike previous years, any attempt at construction results in confiscation of equipment. “They used to demolish here from time to time, and two days later there were new structures in place and a return to routine in the yeshiva. But now, structures have been demolished and their construction cannot be resumed under any circumstances,” he said.
“People visiting the settlement are checked to make sure they don’t have building materials, and the yeshiva students are supervised by Border Police forces throughout the day for fear that they would dare to hang a sheet to provide shadow or connect a pair of planks with a stick,” he said.
Despite the close supervision and the ban on entering vehicles, ascent on foot is possible and the yeshiva continues its studies.
“The people of Israel are coming in droves to Homesh,” Vendy stated. “Every day we host groups from all over the country who come to hear, show solidarity, and strengthen the yeshiva after the painful murder of our friend Yehuda H’yd. Yeshivat Homesh is open and you can come and continue the path of Yehuda, study Torah and settle down in Homesh.”
Yehuda Dimentman Hy’d was murdered after terrorists who had been waiting in ambush for the yeshiva students to descend from the mountain opened fire at the car in which he was riding back home to Shavey Shomron with his friends. During the shiva, his family appealed to senior Knesset and government officials to honor Yehuda’s will and regulate the Homesh yeshiva. In response to reports of the government’s intention to evacuate the yeshiva, Yehuda’s family, in cooperation with Yeshivat Homesh, held a march in his memory that was attended by close to 20,000 people in the cold rain (Thousands March to Homesh After Terror Attack, Demand Israel’s Return to Site).
