Yesh Atid MK's barn burns down in suspected arson attack

A barn used for storing hay belonging to Yesh Atid MK Ram Ben Barak's farm in the moshav Nahalal in the Jezreel Valley burned down overnight.

The central unit of the Israel Border Police opened an investigation into the incident, suspecting possible arson.

At about 2 a.m., the fire department was alerted about a fire in the moshav Nahalal and four fire teams were rushed to the scene.

The teams immediately began extinguishing operations to protect the animals living around the shelter. Because solar panels are installed on the roof of the barn, the main effort of the teams was to reduce the height of the flames as much as possible in order to prevent it from collapsing.

Full control of the fire was only achieved around 11:00 a.m. Tractors and mechanical equipment was used to separate the hay bales in order to prevent regeneration of the fire.

ערימת תבן נשרפה הלילה במשק של ח"כ רם בן ברק בנהלל, שמסר: "מעריך את הנזק בשניים וחצי מיליון שקלים, לא ממהר לקבוע אם זו הצתה או תקלה". המשטרה פתחה בחקירה@CBeyar pic.twitter.com/BDGi81nquG

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) March 11, 2023

The cause of the fire

"I trust the professional authorities to investigate the incident and I thank the fire and rescue forces who are still working now with the aim of extinguishing the fire in the barn," Ben Barak said.

The barn reportedly was not connected to the electricity, so the cause of the fire isn't a short circuit or other malfunction, Walla News reported.

"There is no rush to determine whether it is arson or an accident. I estimate the damage at two and a half million shekels. This is in a calf barn that was empty and luckily no one was hurt," Ben Barak added.

The cause of the fire was later determined to be arson, N12 reported Sunday, but investigators say that Ben Barak wasn't the target, but rather his relative that owns some of the damaged property.