Amid alarms and missile interceptions: Antiquities looters were caught red-handed illegally excavating at the Horvat Hermesh antiquities site, located near the Elyakim Interchange in Israel’s north. While transporting the suspects to the police station, Israel Antiquities Authority Theft Prevention Unit inspectors and Israel Border Police Coastal District Settlement Protection Unit soldiers were forced to stop and take shelter together with the suspects, with sirens and missile interceptions in the background.
The incident began when the Israel Antiquities Authority's Northern Region Theft Prevention Unit received information about antiquities looters present at Horvat Hermesh - a site where remains of an ancient settlement from the Roman and Byzantine periods (1st century - early 7th century CE) were previously uncovered. Upon arrival, the team - including a Theft Prevention Unit inspector, an Israel Nature and Parks Authority inspector, and a security patrol officer of the Megiddo Regional Council - identified the two suspects in the midst of an illegal excavation within a pit about 2 meters deep near the remains of an ancient agricultural installation, apparently an oil press. During their illegal excavation, they damaged ancient layers and shattered ancient pottery.
After the suspects were caught, Israel Border police forces were called to the scene to assist in detaining them and transferring them for further handling. The whole incident occurred against a backdrop of sirens and defensive missile activities in the skies above. En route, there was a siren - and the inspectors, police officers, and suspects all together had to enter into a tight shelter, along with other civilians. All together about 30 people remained inside the mini shelter until the danger passed.
The suspects were questioned at the Zikhron Ya’akov police station. The excavation equipment was seized, and the investigation is ongoing.
In another incident that occurred in the Khorvat Drakhmon Nature Reserve on the Carmel Coast, two suspects, residents of nearby Fureidis, were caught in the act searching for antiquities using metal detectors and digging tools at the Horvat Hadarim antiquities site. Also in this incident, soldiers of the Israel Border Police Coastal District Settlement Protection Unit and an Israel Nature and Parks Authority inspector assisted in the operation. The suspects were found in possession of antiquities that had apparently just been looted from the site. The antiquities and the search equipment they used were seized, the suspects were detained for questioning, and the investigation file will be transferred to the legal department for consideration of filing an indictment.
Nir Distelfeld, Northern Region Supervisor of the Israel Antiquities Authority's Theft Prevention Unit, stated: “Surrealistically, even in such tense times, when security forces and citizens are faced with life-threatening issues, there are those who try to exploit the situation and search for antiquities in order to become enriched, while harming Israel's heritage sites. The Israel Antiquities Authority's Theft Prevention Unit continues its activities on an ongoing basis, even during the war, with the aim of protecting the country's cultural assets and past."
According to the Israeli Minister of Heritage, MK Amichai Eliyahu, "Antiquities robbers are not ordinary criminals, but rather saboteurs of history. They know full well that the archaeological finds in the Land of Israel are the infallible proof of our right to this land. Every pottery shard, every coin, and every relic testifies that this has been our land and homeland since the days of our forefather Abraham. That is why they do not hesitate to harm our history precisely in times of war. Because it is part of the war. The war is over heritage, over history, over the question of who this land belongs to. The nation of Israel is proud of the inspectors of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Border Police soldiers who are fighting an unforgiving struggle even while the sky thunders with missiles."