800 Days of Reserve Duty — and This Is How He’s Treated
Adi Kolani, a Gush Etzion resident and renovation contractor, has served more than 800 days in the reserves since the war began, fighting in Judea and Samaria, Lebanon, and Gaza. He and his wife also volunteer as Magen David Adom ambulance drivers and paramedics. During the fighting, Adi voluntarily made his excavator available to the IDF for months of use in Gaza, only to get it back damaged and unable to be used.
Last week, Arab terrorists from the village of Beit Ummar attempted a lynch against a resident of Gefen Ami and burned a Jewish car. Border Police officers confiscated the same excavator—along with tools essential to Adi’s livelihood, worth tens of thousands of shekels—from outside their home without presenting orders or a clear explanation. His wife was briefly detained.
His wife Matti said, “Personally I am very hurt by the army. We gave our excavator to use for army use and this is how they say thank you and pay us back. My husband has been in the army reserves for over 800 days and did whatever he was asked to and risked his life in Gaza and Lebanon tons of times throughout the last 3 years. It is not nice the way they are saying thank you to us.”
Adi called the Etzion Brigade Commander and asked why he confiscated his tools and equipment when he had nothing to do with the Arab attack. He was told that the army wants quiet and he is being punished since there was conflict in the area. Gefen Ami residents understand it is a type of collective punishment just for being there on the hilltop without government “authorization.” Matti explained that even before Jews came to settle the Gefen Ami hilltop the Arabs were not quiet. They would thrown molotov cocktails and rocks on the Jews traveling on Road 60 below.
The Honenu organization is demanding the equipment’s immediate return, stressing the injustice: a man who repeatedly sacrificed for the war effort is now being mistreated by the very security forces he supported.
Source: Israel National News and Interview with Hilltop Maccabees
Published Nov. 8, 2026