Culture Assets

In another incident that occurred in the Khorvat Drakhmon Nature Reserve on the Carmel Coast, two suspects, residents of nearby Fureidis, were caught in the act searching for antiquities using metal detectors and digging tools at the Horvat Hadarim antiquities site. Also in this incident, soldiers of the Israel Border Police Coastal District Settlement Protection Unit and an Israel Nature and Parks Authority inspector assisted in the operation. The suspects were found in possession of antiquities that had apparently just been looted from the site. The antiquities and the search equipment they used were seized, the suspects were detained for questioning, and the investigation file will be transferred to the legal department for consideration of filing an indictment.

According to Nir Distelfeld, Northern Region supervisor of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Theft Prevention Unit, “Surrealistically, even in such tense times, when security forces and citizens are faced with life-threating issues, there are those who try to exploit the situation and search for antiquities in order to become enriched, while harming Israel’s heritage sites. The Israel Antiquities Authority’s Theft Prevention Unit continues its activities on an ongoing basis, even during the war, with the aim of protecting the country’s cultural assets and past.”

According to the Israeli Minister of Heritage, MK Amichai Eliyahu, ”Antiquities robbers are not ordinary criminals, but rather saboteurs of history. They know full well that the archaeological finds in the Land of Israel are the infallible proof of our right to this land. Every pottery shard, every coin, and every relic, testify that this has been our land and homeland since the days of our forefather Abraham. That is why they do not hesitate to harm our history precisely in times of war. Because it is part of the war. The war is over heritage, over history, over the question of who this land belongs to. The nation of Israel is proud of the inspectors of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Border Police soldiers who are fighting an unforgiving struggle even while the sky thunders with missiles.”