According to the government, the cross violates regulations that standardize graves and bar crosses, or other religious symbols. If the family will not remove the cross, they could have his body dug up and buried elsewhere.
Staff Sgt. David Bogdanovskyi, 19, was killed along with several of his comrades when an anti-tank guided missile hit a Namer armored engineering vehicle they were in, in southern Gaza's Khan Younis last December. His family immigrated to Israel from Ukraine in 2014.
The black marble headstone has an engraved picture of Bogdanovskyi in his military uniform, his name written in the Ukrainian Cyrillic alphabet, his unit symbols and the "talked about small cross."
"The family is crushed, they cry non-stop and are in despair at the situation," a relative told Chanel 12 News. "They were told that if they don't take down the headstone the grave would be moved."
Hebrew media learned from the family of Bogdanovskyi that they had received a letter from the Public Council for Commemoration of Fallen Soldiers following an ongoing dispute that had seen his headstone covered with a black cloth for several months.
"I thought that my David, who gave his life to the country, who loved the country with all his heart for nine years, since his aliyah, who joined the [Israel Defense Forces] IDF to defend me, his family and all of us, is no different than any of the other guys, [and] is not a second-class citizen. I stood there and cried with anger, frustration, and not understanding," his mother said.
She also posted on Facebook saying that his son "loved Israel from the bottom of his heart" and that the cross engraved on his headstone was an integral part of his identity and the faith in which he was raised.
The family said that other graves in the cemetery have religious markers on them, N12 reported.
The Defense Ministry insisted that their order is especially important in the Haifa military cemetery, where fallen Jewish soldiers are also buried, citing a ruling by the IDF Chief Rabbi that states the holiness of the Jewish cemetery is harmed by the cross.
According to the ministry, it had received complaints from families of Jewish soldiers buried nearby who said that the presence of the cross "offends them and harms their ability to pray and say the Kaddish mourning prayer." (Related: Israel orders removal of headstone for fallen IDF soldier because it has a Christian cross on it.)
IDF publishes names of 771 soldiers, 68 police officers killed in Israel's multifront war
Since Oct. 7, 771 Israeli soldiers, officers and reservists have been killed fighting for Israel in the ongoing war with Hamas, the IDF published recently.
More than 302 of them were on the border with the Gaza Strip during the terror onslaught and at least 360 during a ground offensive in the Hamas-run territory and amid operations on the border.
Among the dead are six colonels, including Col. Jonathan Steinberg, 42, the commander of the Nahal Brigade, from Shomria; Col. Roi Levy, 44, the commander of the Multidomain Unit, also known as the "Ghost" Unit, from Shavei Tzion; Col. Asaf Hamami, 41, the commander of the Gaza Division's Southern Brigade, from Kiryat Ono; Col. Itzhak Ben Basat, 44, head of the Golani Brigade chief's forward command team, from Sde Ya'akov; Col. Ehsan Daqsa, 41, the commander of the 401st Armored Brigade, from Daliyat al-Karmel and Col. (res.) Lion Bar, 53, is a retired senior officer in the Judea and Samaria Division, from Gedera.
Moreover, Israel Police has listed 58 officers who were killed confronting the terrorists on the Gaza border, an officer killed during a hostage rescue operation in the Strip, six officers killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank and three other officers killed during clashes with terror operatives in West Bank raids.
Meanwhile, 27 soldiers and a local security officer have also been killed in attacks claimed by Lebanon's Hezbollah and allied terror groups on northern Israel since the fighting started. Thirty-four soldiers were killed during ground operations in Lebanon.
Ten soldiers were killed in terror attacks in the West Bank and Israel. Three soldiers were killed during a counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank.
Also, two soldiers were killed in a drone attack from Iraq.
The military's list also includes a soldier killed by friendly fire in the West Bank, a soldier killed due to malfunctioning ammunition on the Lebanon border, two soldiers killed in a tank accident in northern Israel and several other deadly incidents amid the war but not directly related to the fighting.
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