Israel: Ex-soldiers steal Yom Kippur War tank for anti govt protest

Former IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers stole a tank used in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 from the memorial site at Tel Saki in the Golan Heights on Thursday.

The IDF forces reportedly intended to use the tank in the demonstration against the government’s judicial reforms.

However, searches were carried out by the police in the area after receiving information, who located the tank on a trailer near Kibbutz Gadot in the northern Galilee region.

Investigations suggested that the tank was taken by Yom Kippur War veterans without a permit to be used as a prop in a protest against the government’s planned judicial reforms.

Following the probe, the driver of the vehicle and the organizer of the protest were detained for questioning at the police station in Katsrin.

The tank that was stolen for a protest against the government and a copy of the Declaration of Independence on it, said a report from The Jerusalem Post (credit: ISRAEL POLICE SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT) on February 16.

The protestorts also reportedly put an outsized copy of Israel’s declaration of independence on the tank and put their signatures on it as a sign of support for the protest. The word ‘democracy’ was additionally written on the side of the tank in protest against the Israel government, added the report.

Chairman of the right-wing organization Im Tirtzu, Matan Peleg, in response to the act said according to the Jerusalem Post, “Israel Police must act immediately and file charges against those who stole military equipment. The theft of the tank is a direct result of the incitement of Aharon Barak who likened the legal reform to a revolution of tanks.”

“The radicalization of the opponents of the reform, after they tried to break through the fences of the Knesset this week, is becoming a threat to the future of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. The leaders of the protest have the responsibility to call for calming the spirits before the protesters turn to physical violence,” he added.

Later the movement for a Jewish and democratic state responded by saying, “A protest should also know how to set limits for itself. Desecrating the legacy of the battle while harming the memory of the martyrs of Israel’s wars is crossing a red line.”