ZAKA volunteer arrested for taking RPG launcher, other Oct. 7 weapons as souvenirs
Man says he ‘didn’t think it through’; judge criticizes police for throwing him behind bars and not showing sensitivity after he spent months collecting bodies
A volunteer for body retrieval service ZAKA took a burnt-out RPG launcher and other defunct weapons from Kibbutz Be’eri as souvenirs while helping clear remains from the devastated community.
Police arrested the volunteer Sunday, saying he illicitly took firearms from the scene.
At the Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court on Monday, the volunteer admitted wrongdoing, saying he “didn’t think it through.”
The court granted him conditional release while criticizing police for throwing him in jail rather than showing sensitivity to the volunteer, who had spent the last two months collecting remains left in the wake of Hamas’s brutal October 7 onslaught.
The man has been a ZAKA volunteer for the past 12 years and has no criminal record, according to reports.
“This is a guy who spent two months in Be’eri, collecting bodies and body parts with his own hands,” said his lawyer Menasheh Salton.
Salton said the offense was merely an act of imprudence, not criminal theft of deadly firearms.
Presiding judge Limor Heled-Ron agreed that the charred equipment could hardly count as weaponry, “in light of its condition at the time it was taken,” and said any offense committed was likely on the lower end of the scale.
She ordered police to release the volunteer for the duration of the legal proceedings, on condition he doesn’t contact other involved parties.
