IDF commander rebuked after allowing unauthorized work at Hebron holy site
Work at Tomb of the Patriarchs must be approved in consultation between Israel, PA and Jordan; officer reportedly told his action could have harmed security in time of war
An IDF regional brigade commander was reprimanded last month for violating orders and allowing settlers to perform unauthorized renovation work at the sensitive Tomb of the Patriarchs holy site in the West Bank city of Hebron.
An investigation by the Civil Administration against Col. Yishai Rosilio, who until Thursday was commander of the Judea Regional Brigade, was launched after the Jordanian Waqf, a Muslim trust that partially manages the site, asked Israel for clarification of videos taken by Palestinians of the maintenance on the night of July 10, the Haaretz daily first reported.
The military confirmed the incident to The Times of Israel.
The work — installation of a roof covering in the Jewish section of the site — was done without the knowledge of Jordanian or Israeli government officials, in contradiction to the agreed terms governing the site.
The Tomb of the Patriarchs is holy to Jews as well as Muslims who call it the Ibrahimi Mosque. To ensure calm at the site, which is shared by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, maintenance must be coordinated between both parties and Jordanian officials.
The videos sparked calls on social media among Palestinians to “stop the Jews from taking over” the holy site, while the PA’s Hebron Governor Khaled Douin accused Israel of establishing “facts on the ground,” labeling the work as “aggression.”
Rosilio attempted to give the impression that he was surprised that the maintenance was carried out that night, although he was aware of the intention to carry out the work, unnamed sources with knowledge of his questioning told the Haaretz daily.
قوات الاحتلال قامت بوضع قوالب حديدية على صحن الحرم الإبراهيمي في محاولة لتحويله إلى "كنيس يهودي"#بدنا_نحمه pic.twitter.com/TqWKWWyl0l
— ????Ahmad Taha (@AhmadTaha__1) July 11, 2024
Commanders of the Border Police, which provides security for the site, contradicted the colonel’s claims, telling investigators that Rosilio himself had coordinated the work with Hebron’s settler administration, approving the entry of laborers and a crane to the site.
The probe ultimately determined that Rosilio’s account was flawed and that he knowingly approved the maintenance without approval from his commanders and political officials. The IDF’s Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth ordered the roof dismantled in the presence of Jordanian Waqf representatives and other officials, as Israeli officials engaged with the PA and Jordan in order to keep a lid on tensions.
According to Haaretz, Bluth brought Rosilio into his office for a hearing, rejecting the commander’s defense that the maintenance was part of ongoing work, and slamming him for causing an incident that could have had major repercussions for Israel’s security amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
An unnamed commander with knowledge of the investigation’s findings told the newspaper the incident was “a very serious command failure” and “very embarrassing.”
“An incident like this could have ignited Hebron and the entire West Bank in a moment. He simply decided to carry out the work without notifying any official. He thought we would wake up in the morning with a fait accompli and no one would notice,” the commander said.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Office said: “On the night of July 10, work was carried out to replace the roof on the Jewish side of the Tomb of the Patriarchs. The actions… were performed without the approval of commanders, without an official permit to do so, and without any of the authorizations required for this purpose by the IDF and the Civil Administration. When commanders learned of the work, they ordered the immediate removal of the infrastructure that had been installed.”
Rosilio was rebuked, but the incident will not go on his permanent record.
Rosilio is a resident of the West Bank settlement of Dolev and studied at the national religious Har Bracha yeshiva, headed by extremist Rabbi Eliezer Melamed.
The commander has been at the center of other disciplinary issues during his time in the military.
In 2019, he was convicted of “failing to uphold binding army orders” following the drowning of soldier Evyatar Yosefi during a hike and booted from his role as a paratrooper reconnaissance battalion commander. Two years later, then-IDF chief of staff Aviv Kohavi appointed him the head of the Judea Brigade.
A security source also told Haaretz in January that Rosilio’s brigade was responsible for harming Palestinian residents of the South Hebron Hills, and that not enough action had been taken to restrain soldiers from committing destructive acts.
Rosilio’s next position will be as a commander at the IDF’s Command and Staff College.
