Police arrest woman in suspected vandalism of soldier’s grave
Suspect, a 41-year-old from Rishon Lezion, brought in for questioning over signs of digging found at burial site of Amit Ben-Ygal, killed last week during West Bank operation
Police announced Monday the arrest of a suspect in a case of vandalism at the grave of an IDF soldier killed last week in a West Bank operation.
The suspect, a 41-year-old woman from Rishon Lezion, was brought in for questioning and will be brought before a judge for a remand hearing on Tuesday.
The military last week said it found indications someone had tried to dig up the grave in Beer Yaakov, of Sgt. First Class Amit Ben-Ygal, who was killed by a rock thrown from the roof of a building while his unit was making arrests in the West Bank village of Yabed.
Representatives from the Military Rabbinate were called in to assess whether the sanctity of the fallen soldier had been desecrated, and soldiers from the Golani Brigade, where Ben-Ygal served, stood guard at the site afterwards, the military said. The Defense Ministry later poured cement into the grave to prevent further desecration.
In the predawn hours of Tuesday morning, the elite Golani Reconnaissance Battalion carried out a series of arrests in the northern West Bank village of Yabed. As the soldiers were making their way out of the Palestinian village, a brick thrown from the roof of a three-story building struck and killed Ben-Ygal, according to the IDF.
Hundreds of people attended his funeral on Tuesday evening.
Ben-Ygal was killed one month before the end of his service.
The 21-year-old from the central city of Ramat Gan was the first IDF soldier to be killed in action in 2020. He was posthumously promoted from staff sergeant to sergeant first class.