City Notes: Haifa man drowns during early morning swim.

Haifa man drowns during early morning swim; Tent protester sexually assaulted; Soldiers nabbed for threatening bouncer with rifle; Elderly man electrocuted while repairing A/C.

By MICHAEL OMER-MAN
Tel Aviv beach_521 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Tel Aviv beach_521
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
NORTH
Two soldiers were arrested on Friday night after they allegedly threatened the security staff of a nightclub with an army-issued weapon. According to police, the two were denied entry to the club near Kiryat Haim but returned a short while later with a rifle and what appeared to be a training grenade. No one was wounded, but security guards at the club called the police.
Police arrived on the scene and arrested the two, who had managed to hide the rifle and grenade in an adjacent field. The rifle was recovered. Police handed the soldiers over to military police.
Kiryat Haim beach shut down due to contamination
During regular testing of the water at the Kiryat Haim bathing beach, oil contamination was discovered last week. The Health Ministry issued a warning to the public against swimming at the beach and said that in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Ministry, it would investigate the the sources of the pollution.
Elderly man electrocuted while repairing A/C
A man in his 70s was electrocuted late last week at his home in Moshav Ein Ayala while attempting to repair an air conditioning unit in his home. Magen David Adom paramedics who arrived on the scene attempted to resuscitate him but were forced to pronounce him dead. An investigation was opened into the circumstances of the incident.
Kiryat Yam man in serious condition after stabbing
Magen David Adom paramedics were dispatched early Friday morning after receiving a report of a man who had been stabbed on Hama’apilim Street in Kiryat Yam. MDA crews provided initial medical treatment to the 40-year-old man before evacuating him in serious condition to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. The man had been stabbed a number of times in his upper and lower body. Circumstances of the incident were unknown at the time.
One dead, one in serious condition after accident
One pedestrian was killed and another person was seriously injured after being struck by a car near Moshav Safsufa in the Upper Galilee late last week. A paramedic crew from Magen David Adom that was dispatched was declared one of the pedestrians dead at the scene. The second man was evacuated by helicopter to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. Police were searching for the driver of the vehicle that struck the pedestrians.
Nazareth man arrested for sexual abuse
A Nazareth man in his 30s was arrested last week for allegedly performing indecent acts on a 16- year-old boy. Police say the man and an accomplice gave the boy alcohol and sexually abused him after bringing him to a Haifa beach. The boy complained to police after waking up.
The suspect was brought for a remand extension hearing at the Haifa Magistrate’s Court later in the week. A second suspect has not yet been arrested.
Haifa man drowns during early morning swim
An early-morning swim turned deadly when a man in his 60s drowned off the coast of Haifa over the weekend. Shortly after 6 on Saturday morning, Magen David Adom was alerted that a man had been pulled out of the water at the Bat Galim Beach. A responding MDA crew was pronounced the man dead at the scene. Police noted that the death was not being treated as a criminal incident, the Local website reported.
CENTER
TA Municipality announces student housing grants
The Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality, Tel Aviv University (TAU), the TAU Student Union and the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Jaffa announced a new housing scholarship program this week, which will provide NIS 4 million to students living in apartments in the city’s southern neighborhoods of Naveh Sha’anan, Hatikva and Jaffa. In the coming school year, some 450 students will receive housing scholarships ranging from NIS 8,000 to NIS 9,600 a year to help cover the cost of renting an apartment.
Speaking at a press conference, Tel Aviv-Jaffa Mayor Ron Huldai said of the new program, “This is another important step that the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality is taking to deal with the housing issue. The benefit of this initiative is [that it] brings together the desire of students to live in the city with the importance that the municipality sees in involving students with the lives of the city’s residents.”
Ramat Hahayal burglars arrested
Two men were arrested Tuesday night under suspicion of breaking into businesses in the industrial section of north Tel Aviv’s Ramat Hahayal area. During interrogation, police said that one of the suspects admitted to breaking into seven additional businesses in recent months. The two men, Haifa residents aged 27 and 36, were expected to be brought to court for a remand extension hearing on Wednesday.
South TA tent protester sexually assaulted
A tent protester was sexually assaulted Saturday night at the south Tel Aviv Levinsky Street encampment, when a Sudanese citizen allegedly entered her tent while she was sleeping. The woman woke up and screamed, alerting her friends, who then called the police. The suspect was apprehended and brought for investigation.
Taxi drivers stop TA traffic to protest diesel prices
Hundreds of taxi drivers protested the high price of diesel fuel by blocking the intersection of Kaplan and Menachem Begin streets adjacent to the Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv last Thursday. After blocking the intersection with their vehicles for a short time, they proceeded to drive slowly down Namir Road, halting traffic, on their way to the Tel Aviv Exhibition Center. The taxi drivers called on the government to extend an order to delay a rise on gasoline taxes to diesel fuel as well.
SOUTH
Three indicted in Eilat for prostitution ring, bribing police
Three Eilat residents were indicted this week for running a prostitution ring and attempting to bribe a police officer to protect their illegal operation. According to the indictment filed at the Beersheba District Court, two of the suspects are a couple who were running a prostitution service serving visitors at hotels and apartment complexes in the city.
According to prosecutors, the couple had a previous relationship with the officer involved, the head of the Eilat Police detective unit, and at some point contacted him through a third party asking him to permit their illicit business to operate “quietly” in return for information about competitors and cash bribes, the Local website reported.
Before responding to the bribery offer, the officer notified his superiors who decided to proceed with an operation that saw the detective working undercover. On several occasions, the officer met with the suspects to provide them with advance information on upcoming police activities against them and competing prostitution businesses. In return, the suspects handed over thousands of shekels to the officer, all of which was done under the guise of a police sting operation.
Outstanding Eilat athletes awarded grants
The Eilat Municipality awarded grants to 33 outstanding local athletes in a ceremony held this week at the Eilat campus of Ben-Gurion University. Eilat Mayor Meir Yitzhak Halevi and the city’s Avrahami family established the grant program, now in its fifth year. A total of NIS 60,000 was dispersed among the 33 athletes at the ceremony.
Speaking at the ceremony, Halevi said, “Eilat athletes today are among the top athletes in Israel, with many of them bringing pride and honor to the city and some of them to the State of Israel.”
Eilat immigrant arrested for sexual assault
A 17-year-old new immigrant from the United States was arrested last week on suspicion that he assaulted and sexually abused a young woman who was visiting his friend’s Eilat home.
According to police, after arriving at the friend’s apartment, the youth began physically and sexually assaulting her. The woman attempted to escape but the suspect followed her into the apartment building’s hallway and continued his assault. The woman managed to use her cell phone to call police, who quickly arrived on the scene and arrested the youth. The suspect was interrogated by the Eilat Police and was brought for a remand extension hearing, the Local website reported.
Ashdod drug sting nets 300 grams of hashish
Two Ashdod residents were arrested last week after a special police unit tracked them for several hours while they were making drug deliveries in the city, resulting in a significant drug bust. The Tzabar intelligence unit observed the suspects in their vehicle for most of a day before attempting to stop the pair. The suspects attempted to flee but were blocked by backup police units who blocked the road. Upon searching the suspects’s vehicle, police discovered 30 “plates” of hashish, each containing 100 grams of the drug. The suspects were brought for further investigation.