Published 25 October 2024 at 12.48
Foreign. Israel's Ministry of Defense has ordered the family of a Christian soldier who died in Gaza to remove his gravestone. It is cited that other relatives feel offended by the cross on the stone, reports the Times of Israel.
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The decision has provoked strong reactions from the family of David Bogdanovskyi , 19, who was killed last December in fighting in southern Gaza.
The family, who emigrated from Ukraine to Israel in 2014, are said to be devastated. In a Facebook post, the mother defends the decision to put a cross on her son's tombstone.
“David loved Israel from the bottom of his heart. The cross engraved on his tombstone was an integral part of his personal identity and the faith that he grew up in,” she writes.
According to the Department of Defense regulations, religious symbols such as crosses cannot be found on graves in military cemeteries. The ministry has received complaints from other families who say the cross “offends” them and interferes with their ability to pray at the graves.
The military chief rabbi's assessment is that the cross “damages the sanctity of the cemetery,” writes the Times of Israel.< /p>
The Ministry of Defense states that it has had ongoing discussions with the family to try to find a solution, but emphasizes that the tombstone violates the current regulations.