Nahal Haredi soldier Yisrael Reinman, 28, immigrated to Israel 2 months ago.
By YAAKOV KATZMosque soldier suicide(photo credit: AP)
Military Police are investigating the apparent suicide of, Yisrael Reinman, an American immigrant soldier who was found dead Tuesday in a mosque in a Palestinian village near his West Bank base. The 28-year-old soldier grew up in a haredi family in New York.
Military police interrogated Reinman's commanding officer Wednesday about what transpired the night of the suicide.
The army also said it was reviewing the way it accepted solders into Nahal Haradi, but claimed there were good filters in place to determine if a soldier was not suitable for service in that unit.
Reinman immigrated to Israel two months ago and enlisted two weeks ago in the Nahal Haredi Battalion, an infantry unit that integrates combat service with ultra-Orthodox observance.
The soldier, the army said, left his basic training base late Monday night near Tubas in Samaria. Fearing he had been kidnapped by terrorists, Nahal Haredi commanders initiated a search. Soldiers approaching Khirbat Baka heard gunshots coming from a nearby mosque. The battalion commander entered the mosque and found the dead soldier.
Reinman, the army said, had emptied a rifle magazine and caused extensive damage to the mosque before apparently shooting himself in the head.
Military Police came to the village early Tuesday morning to investigate and to examine the possibility that he was killed by terrorists. According to Palestinian reports, the soldier left a suicide note in which he said he was committing suicide after regretting his decision to enlist in the IDF. The army did not confirm the reports.
Civil Administration officials also arrived at the village on Tuesday, to help repair windows in the mosque that had been shattered during the shooting.
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