Three Jewish teenagers have been arrested for vandalising the graves of WWI soldiers at the Beersheba War Cemetery in southern Israel.
The youths, aged 14, 17 and 18, were witnessed kicking over the Christian headstones of soldiers killed in the iconic Battle of Beersheba in 1917 - when New Zealand, British and Australian forces captured a heavily fortified Turkish garrison.
There are 31 New Zealanders buried in the cemetery, but it's not known if any of their graves were among those kicked-over during the youths' rampage.
Israeli police released photographs of the kicked-over headstones, including one marking the resting place of an Australian Light Horse trooper. Police have not confirmed if the incident was religiously motivated or not.
A major New Zealand and Australian commemoration will be held at the Beersheba War Cemetery on October 31 to mark 100 years since the battle.
The military engagement is remembered as one of the finest hours for the famous New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, when it captured the Turkish stronghold of Tel el Saba, opening the way for mounted Australian troopers to capture Beersheba.
The New Zealand Mounted Rifles and Australian Light Horse were part of the ANZAC Mounted Division.
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