Border police arrest two for alleged vandalization of IDF soldier’s memorial site

Border Police arrested two suspects Monday for allegedly vandalizing a memorial site in Kibbutz Retamim dedicated to fallen IDF soldier Sgt. Yehuda Peretz, 18. The memorial was vandalized last month, with damages including burned benches and ruined signs and flags, according to the NGO Im Tirtzu. Residents filed a complaint describing the act as a 'serious violation of sovereignty and the rule of law.' Undercover officers made arrests at separate locations in the Bedouin town of Bir Hadaj, and the suspects were taken to Segev Shalom police station for questioning. Peretz, a Golani Brigade soldier, was killed in a road accident in August 2025, a month before his wedding.

Border Police arrested two suspects on Monday after they allegedly vandalized a memorial site in Kibbutz Retamim dedicated to fallen IDF soldier Sgt. Yehuda Peretz, 18. The memorial was vandalized last month, according to police. Peretz, a Retamim resident and Golani Brigade soldier, was killed in a road accident in August 2025. According to the NGO Im Tirtzu, damages included burned benches, as well as ruined signs and flags. Residents filed a complaint with police over the vandalism, which they described as a 'serious violation of sovereignty and the rule of law,' according to Im Tirtzu. After identifying the suspects, Border Police undercover officers made the arrests at separate locations in the Bedouin town of Bir Hadaj, police said. They were subsequently taken to the Segev Shalom police station for questioning. Police released footage showing the moment officers arrived at the suspects' homes. Peretz was due to be married only a month after the accident. He was killed when the vehicle he was traveling in crashed into a barrier on Route 222. Peretz had met his partner, Adi, at the age of 15, and proposed to her during his service in the IDF, according to a memorial site for fallen soldiers. Peretz was returning home from combat in Gaza when he died, the site said. Peretz had lived in Retamim since the age of three and was active in the Bnei Akiva youth movement. Following his death, the local chapter raised money to dedicate a Torah scroll in his memory.