Maoz Esther Outpost Destroyed

Maoz EstherIsrael News Photo

Security forces arrived at the start-up neighborhood Maoz Esther Wednesday morning and destroyed the rebuilt homes and synagogue at the site. Police arrested one person.

Police Surround Residents, More Photos at Bottom

Yehudah Lev Kay

Maoz Esther is located near Kochav Hashachar, in Samaria. The government has termed it an illegal outpost and destroyed it for the second time in two weeks. “We will rebuild immediately,” promised Avraham Sandak, a resident of the site. “The army cannot stop Jews from living in the Land of Israel.”

Heavy regular and border police forces descended on the site around 10:00 a.m., backed by two large bulldozers, and destroyed the two homes and synagogue that were rebuilt at the site since it was destroyed for the first time by the Netanyahu administration.

The police gathered the handful of youth at the site along with a woman and her infant and held them in a circle while the bulldozers completed the destruction. After the elite police forces left, the woman started to nurse her hungry baby.

Although police told the group that they would not make any arrests, they drove off with a boy who appeared to be about 16-years old.

Bulldozers swiftly knocked down the structures at the site which were built out of wood and metal sheeting. A police electrician disabled the electrical system at the site, which security forces had previously left untouched. They also cut the outpost’s water supply.

After the destruction, the police chief in charge of the destruction announced on his radio, “Command, copy, destruction complete, three structures, one arrest.” Security forces swiftly left the scene. On the way out, a 14-year old youth threw a rock at a border police officer, who quickly gave chase. The youth ran faster, however, and the officer gave up.

Border police stayed on the scene to prevent activists from returning to the site, and locked its gateway with a large padlock.

Maoz Esther, before it was destroyed two weeks ago, comprised five houses and a synagogue. The homes were inhabited by families from nearby Kochav Hashachar.

The site is named for Esther Galia, who was shot and killed by terrorists on the way home to Kocahav HaShachar. The synagogue on the site, Shirat Yonadav, was dedicated to the memory of Yonadav Herschfeld, who was killed by an Arab terrorist in the Merkaz HaRav yeshiva attack last year.

Residents of Maoz Esther had planned a large event at the site for Thursday, featuring a band and Rabbi Dov Lior, spiritual leader of many residents of Judea and Samaria. Daphna Ronen, a resident of the start-up neighborhood, said the event would still take place at 5:00 p.m.