Unknown individuals desecrated the flag at an IDF soldier's grave three times in one week: "I stood there and cried"

Who is harassing the national flag at the grave site of the paratrooper who fell in the battles of October 7? Gilanit Rif-Amar, mother of IDF soldier Staff Sergeant Regev Amar, who was killed on the day of the massacre in the battles at Kibbutz Kissufim, discovered that unknown individuals had desecrated the Israeli flag flying over his grave three times in one week. "My heart is broken, I stood by Regev's grave and cried," the mother told ynet.

The bereaved mother arrived last Wednesday at the cemetery in Kibbutz Sde Nehemia, where the soldier from the 101st Battalion of the Red Brigade was buried, to water the plants at the grave site. "I saw that someone had tried to take down one flag, I fixed the flag and continued on," the mother said. "The next day I came and the flag was gone, the pole was broken. I understood that this was not a one-time prank, but I told myself that I would wait for 'Bein HaZmanim' to end and hang a new one, because this is a period when the Banias fills up with thousands of travelers, the vast majority of whom are Haredim."

The mother further said: "In our cemetery, there is no military section. We chose to bury him near the stream, as close to the fence as possible, because it is the place he loved and the Israel National Trail passes there, and Regev was a tour guide for the Society for the Protection of Nature. For three years this did not happen and the flags remained in their place. There were holidays of all religions, and no one ever touched the flag."

On Tuesday, the mother received a call from a kibbutz member who updated her that the flag over Regev's grave had been desecrated. "I came there and saw that they had torn the flag to shreds and left it there," said Gilanit. "I asked him for forgiveness, forgiveness for going out on October 7 to fight. He didn't think about who to protect - whether it was Haredim or religious or secular. He went to save people."

She added: "When people take a flag, they take it, but the moment I saw that the flag was desecrated, it was too much and I am not willing to accept it. A red line has been crossed here by the Haredim who come to travel here and come with their agendas of 'we will die and not enlist' and anti-Zionist views. Who would have believed that a Jew would tear an Israeli flag. The kibbutz members rallied and said that for every flag they take down, we will hang a new one. We will not give up our values, we will not stoop to their level. The solution is in dialogue and accepting the other, not in division and strife."

Staff Sergeant Amar was supposed to celebrate his 21st birthday about two weeks after he fell. "He was a special child, different in the landscape and principled," said Gilanit. "He was in the Shayetet for a year and after he was dismissed he didn't give up, but told me 'Mom, don't worry, I have plans for 10 years ahead, I'm going to officer training.' He would walk around the kibbutz, and when he saw an elderly person he wouldn't look down, he would stop and ask and offer to help and was always the first to volunteer."

The mother further noted: "What defines Regev best is the battle in which he was killed. Regev arrived with his guys from the squad commanders' course to Kissufim. They were scrambled and they passed three junctions and fought there against dozens of terrorists and saved people along the way. In Kissufim, fire was opened on them and the entire command line was hit. Regev was seriously wounded and he continued to fight. When his friends wanted to come to save him, he told them 'Don't come near me because you will be killed. I am losing blood, I won't get out of here alive, save yourselves.' And now someone comes and tears his flag. It's a crime, really sad."