IDF veterans steal armored vehicle for protest against government

Three protesters from the group "Warriors of Kippur 1973" were detained by the police to be investigated, after allegedly towing an old armoured personnel carrier (APC) without permission to a demonstration area attended by about 300 people at the entrance to Kibbutz Degania on Saturday.

The APC was part of the memorial site of the 'Old Bridge' at Naharayim, according to the Israel Police Spokesperson's Unit.

This event took place after demonstrators towed a tank from the Tel Saki memorial site in the Golan Heights two days ago and were criticized for it.

The APC was 'borrowed'

The demonstrators claimed that the APC they dragged to the demonstration on Saturday was borrowed for the event.

During the demonstration, retired Lt.-Col. Nir Atir referred to the claim that the tank was "stolen" on Thursday, saying that it was not part of the monument at all and that it was located on a northern ramp and farther from the hill.

"In the Golan Heights today, there are many scraps of old tanks that have already been taken out of service and sent as scraps and scattered in the area to commemorate the heroic fighting we fought on them," he said.

On Thursday, the police stopped a protest march near Kibbutz Mishmar Hayarden, after the tank crossed the Bnot Yaakov bridge on top of a tank carrier.

The tank was to be used as a prop in a protest against the government. To that end, protesters put an outsized copy of Israel's declaration of independence on the tank and put their signatures on it as a sign of support for the protest.

Many residents of the area expressed their support for the protest when they arrived, signed the scroll and gave speeches about patriotism together with the former fighters.