Refaeli’s dad acquitted of assault

Rafael Refaeli quarreled with a paparazzi photographer who chased his daughter.

By JOANNA PARASZCZUK
The Kfar Saba Magistrate’s Court convicted Rafael Refaeli, model Bar Refaeli’s father, on Thursday of damaging the camera of a photographer who had chased and took photos of Bar in 2007. However, the court acquitted Refaeli of the more serious charges of assaulting and threatening the photographer. According to the indictment, freelance photographer Michael Cohen was asked by entertainment magazine Pnai Plus to photograph Bar Refaeli as she traveled to her family home in Hod Hasharon. Cohen and another photographer chased after Bar’s car on a motorcycle. During the ride, Bar called her parents and complained that the two paparazzi were following her. By the time Bar reached her parents’ home in Hod Hasharon, she was in tears.
According to the indictment, while Cohen and his colleague parked their motorcycle outside the Refaelis’ home, Bar’s father began to swear at them. Refaeli then snatched Cohen’s camera from around his neck, the indictment said, spat at him, threatened him, removed Cohen’s keys from the ignition of his motorcycle and returned inside his house.
Later, Refaeli poured water into the camera, damaging its lens. Refaeli denied almost all of the charges against him. He claimed that Bar had told her mother that she was the victim of an attack by paparazzi, and that he had subsequently turned off the motorcycle’s engine and took away Cohen’s camera, but did not damage it.