A Jewish-owned farm in the Jordan Valley was set on fire in the early morning hours of Yom Kippur.
The Dor family farm in Moshav Mehola was set on fire at 1:30 am Wednesday morning.
IDF trackers followed the path of the arsonists to the nearby village of Ein El Bida.
At the end of the fast the Dor family had planned to market their agricultural produce, vegetables and organic herbs, but months of work went up in flames.
11 firefighting teams worked to control the fire. Deputy Tafsar Avishai Shapir, commander of the Samaria regional station, said: “During the night hours, a report was received at the Judea and Samaria headquarters about a fire in an agricultural farm in Moshav Mehola. Many teams from the Samaria regional station were immediately dispatched to the scene, along with assistance from the North District. When the teams arrived at the scene, they identified a building in the center of the farm used, among other things, to store goods before marketing that was one fire.
“This is a very large incendiary charge,” described Shapir. “Firefighters immediately started extinguishing operations. Most of the firefighting efforts were to contain the fire so that it would not spread to nearby buildings and greenhouses. Once the fire was contained, the firefighters worked to extinguish the burning building, into the morning hours. According to preliminary findings, there is a reasonable suspicion of intentional arson, a special investigation team was established to investigate the incident.”
Dor Shemer, a farmer in Moshav Mehola, described the incident: “Yom Kippur, 01:30 at night, there was an alarm about a fire in a packaging and refrigeration house in Moshav Mehola. Our family’s life’s work was burned before our eyes. On security cameras, you can clearly see two masked men setting fire to the place. Forces Rescue, firefighting, the army, the Hashomer Hahadash police, arrived to deal with the fire. An army tracker followed the tracks of the terrorists, the tracks ended inside the village of Ein El Bida. Of course the army will not enter because it is all about an agricultural farm that had its world destroyed. And the reason for the arson It is absolutely clear, this is a nationalist act against a Jewish farm.”
He added: “No one in our country will do anything so that something like this will not happen here again.”
Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked responded to the arson: “While all the people of Israel were sleeping, after the Yom Kippur night prayer, the farm of the Dor family from Moshav Mehola in the Jordan Valley was set on fire. Packing house, tractors, excellent agricultural produce, a life’s work. Everything went up in flames set by terrorists. In my shift as the next Minister of Justice, I pledge to fight to the bitter end the agricultural terrorism designed to undermine our grip on the land.”
