Deputy Defense Minister (Bayit Yehudi) Eli Ben-Dahan revealed in the Knesset plenum that he believes he has a solution that can save the memorial to Lt.-Colonel Emanuel Moreno HY”D and Lt. Asher Ezra HY”D in the Netiv HaAvot neighborhood of Yishuv Elazar. The memorial is slated for destruction as a result of a left-wing petition to the High Court, which resulted in a demolition order after the court determined the memorial was built on private land.

He announced in Knesset that he is aware the Peace Now organization wants the memorial to the hero soldiers destroyed and is unwilling to accept an 18-month delay”.

Ben-Dahan added “I am happy to announced that I visited the place and found it is possible to move the memorial and outlook a few meters to the north and this way the memorial and lookout will remain intact.

On Tuesday 6 Kislev it was reported the High Court of Justice ordered it destroyed within a month. The state responded and is willing to comply with the ruling, but asks that the memorial be permitted to remain until the homes in that area that are to be destroyed in line with the court ruling too, in two years. The state wants to delay the destruction until March 6, 2018, explaining the memorial does not interfere in any way with local farmers or pose an obstacle to accessing their fields.

If the court will permit this, the state will have the entire outlook and memorial moved to the new location and the destruction can be avoided.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)