A severe and unprecedented incident occurred on Wednesday when an Israeli civilian was killed by enemy fire in Lebanon. The civilian was identified as Ze’ev Chanoch Erlich HY’D. What was the 71-year-old civilian, a well-known historian and tour guide, doing in a battle zone? His friend, a Golani commander, brought him to Lebanon without permission. Details of the incident, which occurred around 3 p.m. on Wednesday reveal that Erlich donned a uniform – without being called up for reserves, and the IDF is investigating whether he entered the area of an ancient fortress in Lebanon. IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi ordered an investigation into the incident, and the Head of the IDF’s Personnel Directorate recognized Erlich as a fallen IDF soldier. He will be buried with military honors due to the IDF’s responsibility for the tragic event. The IDF stated that disciplinary actions will be taken against those involved. The Binyamin Regional Council stated: “Ze’ev Erlich, 71 years old, a reservist, joined the IDF forces operating in southern Lebanon. He was a distinguished researcher in the field of Eretz Yisrael and its settlement. Ze’ev, one of the early residents of Ofra in Binyamin, was married to Tamar and was a grandfather to grandchildren. Professional teams from the Ofra community and the Binyamin Council are supporting the family.” Ze’ev Chanoch Erlich, H’yd, was born in 1953 to the researcher Yisrael Erlich, a Sukatchov chassid who edited many books on the history of Gedolei Yisrael from Poland. He learned at Yeshivas HaKosel in Jerusalem and earned a Bachelor’s Degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Touro College in Gemara and the history of Am Yisrael. Erlich, who lived on the yishuv of Ofra in the Shomron, later became a tour guide, researcher of Eretz Yisrael, one of the founders of the Ofra Field School, and editor of the book series Shomron and Binyamin and Studies of Yehudah and Shomron. He served as an infantry officer and as an intelligence officer during the first intifada. He has published dozens of research studies on the subject of knowledge of Eretz Yisrael (ידיעת הארץ) and wrote a regular column on matters related to Eretz Yisrael in Makor Rishon. He served as a guide on Yehudah and Shomron at the Lander Institute and a lecturer at the Moreshet Yaakov – Orot Yisrael College [a Dati Leumi teacher training institute]. He was also involved in documenting archaeological sites in Arab villages in Yehudah and Shomron. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)