Official predicts solution to row over West Bank monument

Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan said Wednesday that a solution has been found to prevent the demolition of a monument to two fallen IDF soldiers currently located on a settlement outpost built on private Palestinian land in the West Bank.

Ben-Dahan told the Knesset that after touring the outpost of Netiv Ha’avot, he came to the conclusion that it is possible to duplicate the memorial in a nearby location, Army Radio reported.

“In recent days we have heard that there is a plan to demolish the memorial to Israeli heroes Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Moreno and Lieutenant Asher Ezra,” Ben-Dahan said. “I wish to inform you that the monument will not be destroyed. We are replicating it a few meters away and the monument, with the lookout point, will still be safe and sound.”

Moreno, who served in the elite special forces unit Sayeret Matkal, died during the 2006 Second Lebanon War. He is viewed as one of Israel’s greatest soldiers and was posthumously awarded one of the country’s highest military honors. Ezra, who was also killed in Lebanon, fell while hunting terrorists in 1993.

The High Court ordered the destruction of the memorial in March, following a petition by the anti-settlement Peace Now organization and a group of Palestinians over the fact that the outpost was built on private land. The demolition is due to take place in coming weeks, and the rest of Netiv Ha’avot is scheduled to be destroyed by March 2018.

Meanwhile, the High Court said Wednesday evening that it acceded to a petition by the late soldiers’ families to grant a stay on the demolition until May 7, 2017. This court said the six-month extension should allow enough time for a permanent solution to “this sensitive issue, which finds a balance between the feelings of the family and the public and the need to enforce the law and protect the rights of the individual.”

Opposition MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) earlier Wednesday slammed Peace Now for its role in the petition, writing in a letter to the organization’s leader that it was “debasing the honor of the dead.”

In his letter to Avi Buskila, Lapid called on Peace Now to help delay the demolition of the memorial.

“You have the opportunity to prevent the destruction,” Lapid wrote, while telling Buskila and Peace Now to “show all of us that you also care about Israel and Israelis and will do everything to stop this process.”

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) and Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) also condemned the demolition of the memorial.