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About six months ago, A., a resident of the settlement of Nofi Nehemiah, was arrested on suspicion of murdering a Palestinian, after he protected a group of children who were patrolling near the city of Ariel.
In the same confrontation, Arabs threw stones at Jews, including children, who came to inspect an area for the establishment of a new outpost, and then a fight began, at the end of which one of the Arabs was stabbed to death – a Hamas operative named Ali Harev. After the fight, the police arrested A and handed him over to the Shin Bet. For five days he was denied a meeting with a lawyer. According to his lawyers, he was intensively interrogated by Shin Bet investigators as if he were a terrorist.
Two months later – the case was closed due to lack of evidence. Now A tells his version of what happened there: “We were attacked by dozens of Palestinians, some armed with clubs and axes. I had no choice but to protect myself and the children who were there.”
Watch Ba tell for the first time about what happened to him during the Shin Bet investigation
In Srogim we published that following the investigation, the “Rabbi of the Good time”, a union of the elders of the Srogim rabbis, sent an unusual letter in its harshness condemning the Shin Bet following the arrest.
The rabbis’ letter is considered unusual because it is also signed by ‘state’ rabbis, including Rabbi Chaim Druckman, Rabbi Yaakov Ariel who served for many years as the chief rabbi of Ramat Gan and Rabbi Eitan Izman, head of the Tzvia institutions, who supported the Jewish Home and the Yamina party in the last elections.
The rabbis’ letter against the Shin Bet
In the letter, the rabbis come out directly against the Jewish division of the Shin Bet and write: “It is a wrong practice that has taken root in the Israel Police and the Shin Bet – to arrest the Jewish residents who defended their lives and the lives of their families and not to arrest the Arab rioters.”
“Instead of immediately arresting the Arab rioters, a Jew who defended himself and the group of travelers was arrested and taken for questioning by the Shin Bet.”
“We appeal with a firm and uncompromising demand: to stop the losing procedure of arresting the persecuted and immediately release the detainee, without any conditions.”
“Arrest by the Shin Bet and an investigation by the Shin Bet that also involves the use of force through torture means: the person attacked by rioters with nationalist motives, if he dares to defend himself, is suspected of a nationalist attack! This moral distortion is unthinkable !’
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