Shouts of ‘Allahu Akbar’ send police to false Tel Aviv alarm

Call sends police scrambling.

By BEN HARTMAN
Israeli Police (photo credit: ISRAEL POLICE)
Israeli Police
(photo credit: ISRAEL POLICE)
Panic gripped a stretch of Ben-Yehuda Street in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night, when a series of callers told police dispatchers they heard shouts of “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great” in Arabic) coming from an apartment on the street.
Considering the current tension in Israel and string of terrorist attacks, officers from the Lev Tel Aviv station scrambled to the scene, arriving at the door of an apartment whose three inhabitants refused to admit them. Police said they were able to determine that the shouts were coming from a sound system and being projected toward the street and surrounding area.
After the officers determined there was no security threat, one of the men agreed to go with them downstairs to the sidewalk, where he refused to identify himself and was arrested, Tel Aviv police said.
At that point, the other two men came downstairs and began interfering with the officers. When one of them allegedly attacked one of the policemen, both were arrested.
Police said the three, whom they identified only as “leftwing Jews,” denied any connection to the shouts that were reportedly heard on the street.