Arutz Sheva
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) Special Yassam units have destroyed a synagogue in the Shomron-Binyamin community that was built after the construction freeze was announced.
The Torah scrolls were first removed from the building, and the bulldozers began the destruction shortly afterwards.
Earlier this morning (Tuesday), it was reported that large police forces and special Yassam units had arrived in the Talmonim bloc and prevented entry to the communities of Dolev, Neriah, Talmon, Nachliel and Haresha. They thus wished to prevent residents from arriving en masse to thwart their destruction of a synagogue in Nachliel, said to have been built in violation of the two-month-old construction freeze.The construction freeze was abruptly imposed on all new Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria by the government to entice the Palestinian Authority back to the negotiating table. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other government ministers have vowed that the freeze will be removed after ten months.
The destruction of a synagogue, especially in Israel, is considered very serious, in terms of both religious sensitivity and the efforts, in the words of the Knesset Law Committee, to "prevent harm to synagogues around the world."
After the Disengagement/expulsion from Gush Katif in 2005, the government originally planned to destroy the synagogues that remained in Gaza, in order to avoid their desecration by local Arabs. However, even this fear was not considered sufficient reason to destroy those holy sites, and following opposition by rabbis around the country and much debate, the decision was rescinded.
Note: I cannot believe I am reading this - and it matters not that the "freeze" is only for 10 months!! Why couldn't anyone have just closed the synagogue for 10 months, rather than destroy it completely? Are we all losing our minds for the sake of appeasement? The Arabs must be dancing in the streets! BeeSting
