Agriterror
AgriterroriStock

Arabs cut down 150 trees in the vineyard of farmer Yossi Kirschenbag in the Jordan Valley's village of Tomer.

The damage is estimated at NIS 15,000 a year, until the trees grow again.

This is not the first time such terrorism has occurred in the Jordan Valley Regional Council. In the past year, the council has faced a number of similar incidents in which other farmers, who were later forced to deal with severe damage and harm to their livelihoods, were also hit.

Kirschenbag, the farmer whose trees were cut down, is also Tomer's civilian security liaison. "My laborer arrived in the morning and saw the tremendous damage done to the vineyard. When I arrived, my eyes darkened. As far as I'm concerned, this is a nationalistic attack in every respect. They chose to act against me because I'm a representative of the security establishment and the community security coordinator," he said.

Destroyed vineyard
Destroyed vineyardצילום: יוסי קירשנבג

Jordan Valley Regional Council head David Elhayani said "In the last year, the farmers of the Jordan Valley have been under a terror offensive for all intents and purposes, and these acts are of a clearly nationalist nature and their purpose is to harm agricultural settlements in the Jordan Valley, and in Israel in general. In the Jordan Valley Regional Council a special war room has been set up and security cameras have been deployed throughout the council, so I'm sure we'll reach the perpetrators of the crime tonight, but that's not enough.

"We demand that the establishment of the planned Border Police volunteer base in the area be approved immediately, as a step that will strengthen the security of the residents and make clear to the terrorists: Your path will not succeed," Elhayani stressed.

הכרם שנפגע על ידי ערבים
הכרם שנפגע על ידי ערביםצילום: יוסי קירשנבג