Israeli tanker stolen from military zone found in junkyard

Israeli authorities are trying to figure out how a heavily armored, but unarmed, tank was stolen from a military training zone after finding it discarded in a junk-yard.

The Israeli Merkava 2 tank disappeared from a training zone in northern Israel near the coastal city of Haifa, the Israeli army said Wednesday. The training zone is closed to the public when in use but is otherwise accessible to passersby.

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Police said the 65-ton tank was found abandoned in a scrapyard near a military base. In a video from the scene, the army green tank towers alongside rusty scraps of metal and other industrial castoffs.

The army said the Merkava 2 was decommissioned years ago and was unarmed. It said it had been used most recently as a “stationary vehicle for soldiers’ exer-cises.”

Police said they had arrested two suspects in connection with the theft.

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