An IDF soldier who was arrested on suspicion of attacking a female Israeli soldier during the “Hebron Sabbath” will be released from custody. This was agreed between the police and the prosecutor’s office, after the soldier’s version was strengthened during the investigation that he did not hit the female soldier on purpose but tripped and accidentally hit her.
The soldier who is on leave was in Hebron on Shabbat “Sarah’s Life”. He was arrested on Sunday after he allegedly punched a female fighter in the face. During the discussion on the extension of his detention, the police representatives said that the suspect tried to arrive with his friends at the house of a Palestinian family, the female fighter tried to prevent them from walking and then “after he refused to leave the place, he pulled her hair, attacked her with his fists and shoved a finger in her eyes.”
The suspect claimed in his defense that he did not intend to hurt the fighter, but was pushed among the crowd that was there and fell, and unintentionally hurt her.
The soldier’s attorney, attorney Daniel Shimsilashvili, said at the hearing that “I have a hard time understanding why in an event like this you can bring the golden sight, you can bring documentation because my friend said everything is documented. How long does it take to send a car from the Etzion station, to send a crime scene investigator who receives a salary for it, to an incident where a person is arrested who is deprived of his freedom, and to bring cameras? I’m not saying that the officer’s version is false, we saw the videos in the media, there was great chaos. He (the soldier) does not distance himself completely from the case, he gives an authentic version, a person who did something would not talk like that.”
The soldier’s attorney also stated that this is a person with no criminal record, and mentioned that no other offenses are attributed to him.
After during the investigation no documentation was brought to support the police’s version – it was agreed that the soldier would be released to house arrest at the base where he serves.
In recent days, two more suspects were arrested from other incidents that took place on Shabbat in Hebron. One of the detainees, mentally ill, is the one who attacked MK Itamar Ben Gabir during Shabbat. The other detainee is a minor resident of Jerusalem who is suspected of attacking an IDF soldier, a resident of Kiryat Arba who was assigned to guard the area.