The Civil Administration destroyed Wednesday night a West Bank memorial to an IDF soldier killed in Lebanon. The memorial, built by a group of settlers from Elon Moreh, was constructed around an ancient natural spring near the settlement.
Settlers in Elon Moreh were in shock this morning after discovering that security forces who were en route to destroy an illegal settlement, decided to make a stop at a local spring on Wednesday night. The Civil Administration's forces proceeded to fill the spring with sand and destroy a memorial constructed for Avner Hezi Kfir, an IDF soldier killed in Lebanon in 1997 while on his way to the Beaufort .
The natural spring, within Elon Moreh's jurisdiction, used to run into a nearby road until a group from the settlement constructed a pool in which to collect the water. The pool and surrounding benches were constructed as a memorial for Avner Hezi Kfir and was inaugurated 18 months ago. It has since become a rest stop and pleasure corner for residents of the surrounding areas.
One resident who helped construct the memorial said on Thursday, "We spent all summer building it. This was an entirely vengeful act. The spring has been here for years and is a beautiful nature spot, the surrounding benches and pool were built with use of private funds and it has since become a place of natural beauty which can be enjoyed by anyone who chooses to visit, and thousands do visit it every year."
"Our goal was to build something beautiful for the area, it was never meant to be an act of defiance. There are dozens of natural springs throughout the country which have been refurbished like ours and have never had to provide construction permits," he explained.
"This was destruction for destruction's sake, especially when you take into consideration that we named the spring in honor of a fallen soldier," he added.
"They took my son from me twice," said the mother of the IDF soldier in whose name the memorial was built. "This is all I have left of my son, my only reminder. I come here every day and talk to him and about him. Must a bereaved family be judged so harshly?" She added.
Benny Katzover, who heads the Samaria Settlers Committee, claimed that "after deliberations with the Local Council Head Gershon Mesika, we decided to rebuild the memorial as soon as possible. This is a despicable act, shocking and indescribable.
The Civil Administration stated that: "Early this morning security forces and the Civil Administration carried out the destruction of an unpopulated transient structure and a water hole in Elon Moreh which were built illegally without the necessary permits. The Civil administration will continue to carry out its duties and enforce Judea and Samaria construction laws."
Noa Rubinstein contributed to this report