Monument to soldiers who fell in helicopter disaster defaced again
Family members of Tom Kita'in and Tomer Keidar, who were killed 18 years ago in the helicopter collision, arrived at their monument and found 6 of the site's 12 speakers were stolen.
The family members said six of the 12 speakers installed in the stone wall were ripped out and stolen. The sound system plays Haim Gouri’s "Friendship Arms Poem" (Shir Hare’ut) at the monument site.
Hagit Keidar, mother of the late Tomer Keidar, told Ynet that this is not the first time things were stolen from the site dedicated to the two fallen soldiers.
“This time it has crossed the line,” she said, “in the past, chairs and tables, a shading net, and donated violins were stolen. The donation box for the monument’s upkeep had also been broken into.”
Keidar also mentioned that the families are working to secure the hill on which the monument stands, but unknown perpetrators keep coming along and defacing it in different ways. “Each time we see such damage, the pain rises back up again, and I expect the authorities to take steps to stop this,” she said.
Sargeant First Class Tom Kita’in and Sargeant Tomer Keidar, fighters in the Nahal Brigade, died in the 1997 helicopter disaster in She’ar Yashuv, along with 71 other soldiers. The disaster occurred when two IDF helicopters carrying soldiers collided with each other on their way to Lebanon. The hill that was named after Kita’in and Keidar hosts public events, mostly on Independence Day.
“We don’t know what led to this series of thefts, but it’s time to end it,” Baruch Shahar, one of the event organizers, told Ynet. “I’m calling for all possible authorities – Knesset members, local municipalities, and of course the police – to work on this issue and put an end to it. We stand here, defenseless against these deeds, crying out for help.”
The fallen soldiers’ families have filed reports at the Kiryat Gat police station, and personally reached out to MK Eitan Broshi (Zionist Union), who is working with the Ministries of Defense and Public Security to find a solution to this problem.
“The police is responsible for finding the criminals who desecrated the monument as soon as possible and bringing them to justice. We can’t leave the site for thieves to do with as they please,” said Broshi.
