Hilltop 26
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Hilltop, outpost or lot 26 was an illegal Israeli settlement founded by Nethanel Ozeri. It was founded near the city of Hebron in the West Bank. It lay approximately 100 metres from the Kiryat Arba settlement. At the time of its destruction, it had a population of around ten.
The settlement was peacefully dismantled on 24 March 2003 by the Israel Defence Force (IDF). The settlement had been created without a permit, and was therefore illegal under Israeli law. The settlement had also been built on private Palestinian land. The rogue settlement was the first to be destroyed during Ariel Sharon's second term of office.
Nethanel Ozeri
The settlement made headlines following the death of Nethanel Ozeri on 17 January 2003. Ozeri was killed in the evening by two Palestinian gunmen from Hamas. One of the gunmen was killed by other Israelis present, while the second gunman was tracked and killed later by the IDF. Ozeri belonged to the banned anti-Arab Kach movement.
During Ozeri's funeral, hundreds of settlers went into Hebron, smashing windows and setting cars alight.
Netanel (Nati) Ozeri, born in Jerusalem, was a student at the Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea established by Rabbi Meir Kahane, and was a study partner of his son, Binyamin Kahane, killed in a terrorist attack in December 2000. Ozeri later went on to teach at the yeshiva in Jerusalem as well as in Kiryat Arba.
A member of the Kach movement, he was a leader of the Hebron community in terms of both settlement and Torah study/teaching. His close friend, Noam Federman, said Netanel was "an interesting and unusual combination, the type of person who stood out as a leader. He was a man of Torah and a man of action." Federman noted that Netanel not only established new settlement outposts and interested youths in settling there, he also made sure to teach them Torah on a regular schedule. He himself moved with his family several years ago from Kiryat Arba to the nearby Hilltop 26, where he engaged in organic farming.
Jan 17, 2003 - Netanel Ozeri, 34, was killed when terrorists entered his home, in an outpost north of Kiryat Arba, just after the Friday night Shabbat meal and opened fire. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
At about 7:30 P.M. there was a knock on the door. Netanel Azouri, who was suspicious, cocked his pistol before opening the door. The two terrorists immediately opened fire, shooting him in the chest. Netanel friends, who had been invited for dinner, shot back at the terrorists, killing one of them. The second, who fled the scene wounded, was later killed by IDF forces. Azouri's 5-year-old daughter Herut and the two friends were wounded in the fire.
Netanal Ozeri was buried in the old Jewish cemetery in Hebron. He is survived by his parents, his wife Livnat and their five children, ranging in age from 1 ½ to 11: Navit, David, Herut, Yehonatan and Yehuda, the youngest.
External links
- March 24 statement (http://www.idf.il/english/announcements/2003/march/24.stm) - IDF statement on the end of the settlement