130 head from the goat flock of the Samaria shepherd Avraham Herzlich, who passed away three months ago, disappeared from their pen in the town of Kfar Tapuach in Samaria on Friday morning. The flock had been raised by the Herzlich family for nearly forty years, making them among the first Jewish shepherds in Judea and Samaria. Upon learning of the disappearance, theft was suspected, and military and police forces were dispatched to the scene. The security forces were joined by civilians from the area, who began chasing the suspected thieves. These included the Israel Dog Unit, a nonprofit specializing in working dogs, who brought dogs and drones to the chase. Roadblocks were set up in numerous locations in the area, and searches were conducted on the outskirts of nearby Palestinian Arab villages olive groves. Violent clashes broke out between the Israelis and Palestinian Arabs during the searches. Related articles: Israel Dog Unit fights agricultural terror in Samaria 'We need to go back to the days of defending ourselves' The Herzlich family claims that in the past two weeks, Palestinian Arabs from the village of Yasuf, who approached the settlement of Tapuah under the guise of olive harvesting, have been regularly observing the flock and the pen in which it was held. They also attempted on several occasions to approach the shepherd while the flock was grazing. "It's hard to say that we were surprised that the flock was stolen now during the olive harvesting season," the family said. "For more than two weeks, we have warned about the Arabs approaching under the pretext of the harvest. Time after time, we reported to the security forces about Arabs observing, photographing, and gathering information on the flock, but nothing was done. Moreover, even the civilian security coordinator in the settlement was prevented from assisting in expelling the Arabs due to the insistence of the security system that the harvest is approved and does not pose a problem. This morning we woke up to an open pen where the entire flock that our father raised with dedication and love was stolen and taken to one of the villages." "Every year we warn that the Arab olive harvest is just a cover story, and Arabs exploit the proximity to Jewish settlements to carry out acts of terrorism and gather information. The time has come to stop this criminal recklessness and ban Arabs from approaching Jewish areas at any time. We hope that the flock will be found and the thieves will be brought to justice," they asserted.
