On Wednesday, 1 Cheshvan, 14 Arab terrorists threw rocks at a woman driving out Yitzhar, in a place which until then had never been the site of a rock attack; one rock barely missed a car window. Because of the seriousness of the incident, Yitzhar’s head of security and additional residents were summoned to the scene to comb the area. During the search they noticed Arabs and European/British anarchists harvesting olives in a nearby grove.

Two Arabs noticed Yitzhar’s head of security and began to flee towards the Gilad Road in the direction of Chawarah. One of the Arabs is suspected of throwing the rock that almost broke a car window.

At this stage, three of the men summoned to the scene went with a minor by car to overtake the Arabs who had fled towards Chawarah. The men from Yitzhar noticed an Arab who fit the description of the suspect they were chasing, then signaled to soldiers in an IDF jeep that was on the scene to stop and apprehend him. Just then a police car stopped next to the car from Yitzhar and detained the driver and the three passengers.

Some of the detainees were masked when they were detained, which the police interpreted as a sign that they were on their way to carrying out a “price tag” attack in retaliation for the rocks thrown at the Yitzhar resident’s car. However, one of the Arabs who had fled from the olive grove was apprehended by army forces very close to where the police detained the Yitzhar residents, which supports the claim that they were attempting to overtake the Arabs who had fled.

After the detention, Yitzhar residents continued to arrive at the grove from which Arabs had fled. At the scene a clash developed during which an Arab and a British anarchist were injured.

At a deliberation on Thursday at the Petah Tikva Magistrate Court, Honenu attorney Aharon Roza represented the detainees. During the deliberation, it became known that the police are attempting to link the detainees to the clash which occurred after their detention, hundreds of meters from where they were detained, on hilly terrain.

Judge Nachum Sternlicht partially accepted Honenu attorney Aharon Roza’s pleas and ruled that there is no evidence linking the detainees to the above-mentioned clash. However, Judge Sternlicht did rule that there is a reasonable suspicion that they conspired to commit a crime, obstructed a policeman in the line of duty, and resisted detention.

In accordance with the ruling, he extended the remand of the three adults by five days. The minor detained with them was released to house arrest.

The detainees assert that they did not resist detention and that they themselves were beaten by the policemen. One of the detainees was injured in the leg and required medical treatment.

Honenu attorney Aharon Roza, who represented the detainees, stated that, “The court did well when it decided to release the minor from remand. I am of the opinion that the three adult detainees will also be released, in as much as the judge ruled that there is a significant doubt concerning their involvement with the injury of the Arab and the British anarchist.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)