(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) – The main battle tank “Merkava” is the primary shield of the Israel Defense Forces and has been extensively used by the Israeli military in all wars involving the state of Israel since the 1980s.
On Wednesday (yesterday), Israeli police made an arrest after receiving a report of the “theft” of an Israeli military armored vehicle from a military training ground in the country.
However, the stolen Merkava Mark II armored vehicle was found at a nearby scrap metal disposal center.
The stolen Merkava Mark II tank had already been retired from service by the Israeli military.
Israeli police located the armored vehicle at a scrap metal disposal center in a location called Nesher, which is situated north of the coastal city of Haifa, approximately 20km from where it was stolen.
The Israeli military reported the theft incident, which was said to have occurred overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, to the country’s police.
The theft incident was investigated by the Police, the Israeli Military Police Investigation Unit, and the Israeli military’s command center, which initiated an investigation into the loss of the 60-ton armored vehicle.
Authorities are still investigating the motive for the theft of the Merkava Mark II armored vehicle, although the country’s media suggests that those responsible for the theft likely intended to scrap it for resale as scrap metal.
According to the Israeli military, the stolen Merkava armored vehicle had been retired from service several years ago and no longer had any weapons, ammunition, or advanced equipment and components inside it.
The Merkava Mark II armored vehicle was reported to be used by the Israeli military solely for training purposes.
However, this is not the first incident of armored vehicle theft in Israel this year.
In February, a group of former Israeli soldiers made off with one variant of the “Centurion” armored vehicle known as “Sho’t” from a memorial erected to commemorate the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.
The former military members who stole the armored vehicle were reportedly planning to use it in protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
A few days after the February incident, the same group of former Israeli military members also stole an armored personnel carrier called “Bren” for the same purpose, to use it in protests against the Israeli government.
The former Israeli military members involved in these crimes were arrested by the police, claiming they had authorization to use the armored vehicles.
The Merkava armored vehicles used by the Israeli military were first introduced in 1979, with its initial variant known as the “Merkava Mark 1.”
The main battle tank variant, Merkava Mark II, similar to the one stolen, was introduced into the Israeli military service in 1983 and underwent several modifications and upgrades before being replaced by the newer Merkava Mark III variant, produced between 1989 and 2003.
The Merkava Mark II armored vehicle was equipped with a 105mm cannon, a 7.62mm machine gun, and anti-tank weapon defense systems.
It also featured thermal optics, modular composite armor, and some of the vehicles were modified into armored personnel carriers before being retired from service in 2016. — DSA
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