Officer asks to resign after incident that leaves two dead in Lebanon

The chief of staff of the IDF’s Golani Brigade, Colonel (reservist) Yoav Yarom, asked to resign from his post on Monday in the wake of an incident last week – a researcher, a civilian, was allowed to enter southern Lebanon without first obtaining the appropriate permits and was killed alongside a soldier.

Yarom had given Zeev Erlich, 71, permission to enter western South Lebanon to examine an archaeological site, an ancient fortress.

Although no threat appeared to be present in the area, at that time two Hezbollah terrorists were hiding at the site and opened fire on the researcher, the senior officer and the soldiers who accompanied them.

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Erlich and Sergeant Gur Kehati had lost their lives. Yarom and a company commander of the 13th Battalion of the Golani Brigade were injured.

In a letter to the Golani Brigade commander, Yarom said he took responsibility for the incident – ​​the official IDF investigation is not yet complete – and he asked to resign from his post.

Yarom said he would fully cooperate with the investigations. However, he indicated in his letter that the incident was, in reality, different from what was established in the media.

He did not give further details.

In addition to the investigation into the incident which is currently being led by the head of the Northern Command, General Ori Gordin, and a separate criminal investigation which has been opened by the military police, the chief of staff of the IDF, General Herzi Halevi, has appointed a reserve general to head a team of experts who will be responsible for conducting investigations into operational discipline throughout the army.

Erlich is said to have entered an area in western southern Lebanon to inspect an ancient fortress believed to be the burial place of an obscure disciple of Jesus, Simon the Zealot.

Erlich entered southern Lebanon armed and in military uniform, even though he is neither a soldier nor a reservist.

The army recognized Erlich as a major in the reserves posthumously, adding him to the toll of soldiers who lost their lives in the fight against Hezbollah.

The army has questioned the reasons for its presence in southern Lebanon, where troops have been fighting on the ground since October 1, after about a year of relentless cross-border attacks launched by the Iran-backed terrorist group. .

According to a preliminary IDF investigation, Yarom allowed Erlich to enter southern Lebanon to examine the fortress, accompanying him during his visit.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Office ruled that the colonel did not have the authority to approve Erlich’s entry, and that the procedure governing the entry of a civilian into such an area in the company of the military deployed on the ground had not been respected.

Erlich’s family, for their part, insisted that he had received the necessary authorization to enter the site.

The decision to recognize him as a fallen soldier – a decision the army rarely makes for people who do not serve in one way or another in its ranks – was made by the new commander of the IDF Personnel Administration, Major General Dado Bar Kalifa.

This was apparently not the first time that the archaeologist had ventured into potentially dangerous territory for his research.

Daily life Haaretz said Thursday that Erlich had already entered Lebanon during the military’s ongoing intense military campaign against Hezbollah, an offensive that began in September.

The article did not give details of the septuagenarian’s previous incursions into Lebanese territory.