Kochavi commends soldier who protected Palestinian man from Jewish mob

Attack was broken up by IDF soldier.Police arrest two minors suspected of being involved in Hebron attack

By ANNA AHRONHEIM
IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi speaks at a ceremony marking the IDF’s role in the fight against the coronavirus, June 8, 2020. (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi speaks at a ceremony marking the IDF’s role in the fight against the coronavirus, June 8, 2020.
(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi praised the conduct of the Golani soldier who helped stop the beating of a Palestinian man by a Jewish mob in Hebron on Friday night.
Kochavi met on Sunday with interim police chief Motti Cohen to discuss the incident, emphasizing the importance of joint coordination and agreeing that the two bodies “would make every effort to enforce the law and maintain public order,” the IDF and Israel Police said.
The chief of staff stressed that the attack was of nationalistic nature and that such violent acts “are crimes that must be prevented, and if committed, must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz tweeted on Saturday evening in support of the Golani soldier who “acted as we expect any soldier and commanding officer in the IDF should act.”
“The IDF is committed to the security of civilians anywhere it operates,” he wrote. “I trust the IDF to investigate this incident in an orderly fashion.”
Police on Sunday announced that two minors suspected of being involved in the attack were brought in for questioning and later arrested.
Police said they “responded to an incident that took place in Hebron when a Palestinian and a soldier were attacked,” and have opened an investigation into the incident in which evidence, such as video footage of the attack, is being collected.
Police said that they have identified and located the suspects, and that some have been called in for questioning “as part of the ongoing investigation into the incident.” A number of testimonies were also collected by police to locate other suspects involved in the assault, the statement continued.
According to a report by Channel 12 News, the police went to the homes of the suspects – whose identities are known to them – on Saturday, but none of the suspects were home. The Jewish attackers are reportedly visiting yeshiva students and not local city residents.
In video footage of the incident that took place in Hebron’s Old City and was widely shared on social media, a group of six Jews wearing skullcaps can be seen attacking the Palestinian man, with one of them putting him in a headlock as others hit and kick him before an IDF soldier rushes forward to break up the beating.
The soldier manages to free the man, identified as Ibrahim Badar, from the crowd and urges him to leave the scene, but moments later, several other Jews chase them both and begin to attack them once again.
Badar, who required medical attention and was taken to hospital by IDF troops following the assault, told Ynet he was simply walking down Shuhada Street to work, in the Israeli-controlled part of the flashpoint city, when he was assaulted near an IDF post.
Speaking to KAN news, Badar said he wanted to “thank the soldier who helped me and kept them away from me” but that the IDF needed to arrest the settlers to “make sure they don’t attack someone else.”
Economy Minister Amir Peretz commended the IDF soldier who prevented the assault of Badar and said “he acted in the spirit of the IDF.”
He added that serving in Hebron is not easy and that when Jewish settlers employ violence “they just make the hardships of the soldiers worse.”
Attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir, who represents one of the suspects, was quoted by Ynet News as saying that Badar is “not as innocent as they present him to be.”
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.


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