Contrary to earlier fears and reports, Minister of Defense Moshe Yaalon wants to legalize the Oz Vegaon memorial nature park at Gush Etzion, not tear it down.

The Head of the Etzion Bloc Regional Council, Davidi Perl, expressed his gratitude Wednesday for the decision by Yaalon to speed up bureaucratic approval of the park near the Etzion Junction, and prevent it from being destroyed.

The site was set up by Women in Green immediately following the terrorist abduction and murder of three teens – Eyal Yifrah, Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar Hy”d – last summer.

"The minister of defense has once again proven that he is a friend of the settlement enterprise,” Perl added. He said that the incident proved that working quietly and directly vis-a-vis the Defense Ministry is the best way to achieve results in Judea and Samaria.

"Together with the security establishment, we will continue to take action toward the quick and quiet legalization of all of Judea and Samaria," he predicted.

MK Oren Hazan (Likud) assisted in preventing the move to tear down the park. “Good news,” he tweeted Tuesday. “Pursuant to my request to the Defense Ministry, at this point the minister's representatives gave a commitment that the Oz Vegaon reserve in memory of the youths hy”d will not be evacuated and a proper solution found.”