The Tel Aviv Magistrate Court on Monday, 12 Shevat, attorney Barak Cohen to 300 hours of public service after being convicted of insulting a public servant and of obstructing a police officer in fulfilling his duties.
Cohen was charged after publishing a series of posts against police officer Alon Hamdani. The two met each other for the first time a few years ago during a demonstration held by a soccer team during which Cohen claimed that the officer tried to recruit team members into the ranks of the police. After Cohen revealed the issue to the demonstrators, he claimed that he had been treated unilaterally and unfairly by a Hamdani, whom Cohen claimed to have threatened in various forums.
Cohen was accused of publishing an insulting poem against Hamdani, which he published throughout social media. In addition to the community service, he was sentenced to a six-month suspended sentence, compensation of NIS 5,000 to the police officer and a fine of NIS 3,000.
It should be noted that the State Attorney’s Office sought to sentence him to the strictest punishment prescribed by law, a number of months in prison.
Here are the words of the poem written by Cohen:
“A green-eyed snake walks around the streets, gathering and harassing, eating people.
Without uniform and without rules and without God, mercilessly beating all children.
“Hamdani, a junior policeman who coordinates information on behalf of the regime, Hamdani a junior policeman who coordinates information for the regime.
“A green-eyed snake became a synonymous snake, no longer an undercover agent, burned throughout the city.
“Hamdani only forgot in the course of informers, justice will not run away will not hide faces.
“Hamdani, a junior policeman who is a media coordinator for the regime, Hamdani a junior policeman who coordinates information for the regime.”
In the original Hebrew:
“נחש ירוק עיניים מסתובב ברחובות, אוסף ומתנכל, אוכל את הבריות.
בלי מדים ובלי חוקים ובלי שום אלוהים מכה ללא רחם בכל הילדים.
חמדני שוטר זוטר רכז מידע למען המשטר, חמדני שוטר זוטר רכז מידע למען המשטר.
נחש ירוק עיניים הפך נחש נרדף, כבר לא סוכן סמוי, בכל העיר נשרף.
חמדני רק שכח בקורס למלשינים, הצדק לא יברח לא יסתיר פנים.
חמדני שוטר זוטר רכז מידע למען המשטר, חמדני שוטר זוטר רכז מידע למען המשטר”.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
“insulting a public servant” is a crime in Israel? He shouldn’t complain. In most other countries in that region they shoot you insulting the govenment. It is ironic that the hilonim pride themselves on being “modern” and “western”, yet in many ways they are very “Middle Eastern” (and that isn’t meant as a compliment).
Yes, insulting a public servant can be a crime in Israel. The Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that its application must be balanced with the right to free speech and thus limits its application to highly personal insults directed at junior civil servants who may require heightened protection from the public.