{"id":204528,"date":"2025-12-26T07:00:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T07:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/204528\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T07:00:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T07:00:10","slug":"fallen-soldiers-family-takes-military-headstone-to-idf-headquarters-in-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/204528\/","title":{"rendered":"Fallen soldier’s family takes military headstone to IDF headquarters in protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

The relatives of a fallen soldier who are outraged over how the Israel Defense Forces has addressed their son\u2019s death staged a protest on Thursday by uprooting his headstone from a military cemetery and placing it in front of the office of the General Staff at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n

The gesture by the family of Sgt. Gur Kehati came a little over a week after the new military advocate general, Maj. Gen. Itai Ofir, decided to close<\/a> a criminal case against a senior reserve officer who was being investigated for Kehati\u2019s death. At the time of that decision, the family expressed \u201cshock, frustration and pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday, they demonstrated their anger by placing his military headstone at the door of the General Staff offices.<\/p>\n

In footage of the incident published by Hebrew media, Kehati\u2019s father is seen placing a note on the headstone reading: \u201cFor Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, from the Kehati family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kehati was killed<\/a> alongside 71-year-old civilian researcher Ze\u2019ev Erlich on November 20, 2024, while entering an archaeological site in southern Lebanon. The visit took place at the height of an Israeli ground offensive against the Hezbollah terror group in southern Lebanon, a week before a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah brought to a halt more than a year of hostilities.<\/p>\n

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Col. (res.) Yoav Yarom, who led the incursion, has been heavily criticized for allowing Erlich to enter the western sector of southern Lebanon, in IDF uniform, without the necessary approvals. Erlich had long served in the military reserves despite his advanced age, but was not in active service at the time of his entry into Lebanon.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tSgt. Gur Kehati\u2019s relatives place his headstone at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv in an act of protest, December 25, 2025. (Screenshot from Kan)<\/p>\n

Yarom and Erlich were joined by a team of soldiers as they entered a medieval fortress in the southern Lebanese village of Shamaa, revered by Christians and Shiite Muslims as the 1st-century burial place of Saint Peter.<\/p>\n

Believing the area had been cleared of threats, Yarom led Erlich and accompanying troops to the site, where two Hezbollah operatives ambushed the forces, killing Erlich and Kehati. An officer was seriously wounded, and Yarom himself was moderately wounded, before the gunmen were killed.<\/p>\n

Following an extensive Military Police investigation, the Military Prosecution in September decided to indict Yarom with the charge of reckless homicide, subject to a hearing. In one of his first moves, however, new Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Itai Ofir decided on Tuesday to close the case because the investigation material showed that the visit to the site \u201chad been planned in advance by the commander of the force\u2026 and was required for operational purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tSgt. Gur Kehati. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n

Kehati\u2019s mother, Maayan Agmon Kehati, wrote on Facebook below a photo of the family removing the headstone that she had declined an invitation to meet with the military advocate general because she wasn\u2019t \u201cmentally prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wasted the beautiful life he was building for himself on the army, on the people here and on this disgusting state,\u201d she wrote of her son. \u201cGur was a rare person.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThis land is a curse. Judaism is a curse. I\u2019m done with them. More accurately, they\u2019re done with me.\u201d<\/p>\n


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