A decommissioned tank was stolen from a military base in northern Israel and was found hours later in a nearby scrap yard, Israeli police said, marking the second such case. same in 2023, reports AFP and News.ro.
A tank stolen from a military base in Israel has arrived at a scrap yardPhoto: HO / AP / Profimedia
The police were alerted by the Israeli Ministry of Defense regarding the “theft of a tank from a training base”, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, near the city of Elyakim, located between Tel Aviv and Haifa.
Searches quickly led to the discovery of “the tank in a scrap yard near Nesher,” just 20 kilometers from the base on the southern outskirts of Haifa, police said.
An investigation into the theft has been opened.
The second “disappearance” this year
The Israeli army announced, for its part, that the tank found is of the Merkava 2 type, “taken out of service many years ago”.
This type of Israeli-made tank was designed in the early 80s.
“The tank was disarmed and was not operational,” the army announced in a statement on Wednesday, specifying that it was stationed on a shooting range accessible to hikers.
It is the second time an Israeli decommissioned tank has “disappeared” under unclear circumstances this year.
In February, a tank was stolen from a military memorial in the Syrian Golan Heights annexed by Istael, with the aim of being used in a demonstration against the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
The person driving the armored vehicle at the time, who said he had a permit, was arrested by the police because he did not have a license to drive the tank, and it was taken back to where it was stolen, according to local media.
