Prosecutor’s office could open second investigation into Breaking the Silence

The IDF has repeatedly claimed that the organization of ex-IDF soldiers falsifies information against the army’s conduct in the West Bank.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Updated: NOVEMBER 22, 2017 08:05
An IDF soldier stands next to a blindfolded Palestinian prisoner (photo credit: REUTERS/IDF HANDOUT)
An IDF soldier stands next to a blindfolded Palestinian prisoner
(photo credit: REUTERS/IDF HANDOUT)
The state prosecutor’s office could open a second criminal investigation into charges that Breaking the Silence spokesman Dean Issacharoff beat a Palestinian detainee in Hebron in 2014.
On Thursday it closed the case against Issacharoff, explaining that his claims that he had carried out such an assault were false.
Then on Monday, the left-wing group Breaking the Silence publicized a video, which showed Issacharoff in uniform leading a handcuffed Palestinian man in Hebron down the street.
The group claimed that this was the man Issacharoff had beaten after his arrest and that the prosecutor’s office had investigated the wrong story.
At issue for Issacharoff is the integrity of his statements and his organization, which has been under assault by the government.
The government has repeatedly claimed that the organization of ex-IDF soldiers falsifies information against the army’s conduct in the West Bank.
It is not clear from the video if the man in question was beaten by Issacharoff.
Channel 2 on Tuesday night published an interview with the man who had been detained by Issacharoff, Faisel al-Natasha. He confirmed that he was the man in the video and that he had been beaten, but did not remember the identity of the soldiers who hit him nor did he believe that he could recognize a photo of them.
The prosecutor’s office said in response to the publication of the video that the details Issacharoff gave police in his testimony differed from the story Natasha described.
It added that there was a possibility that it could open a second investigation against Issacharoff.
Breaking the Silence’s legal representative, attorney Michael Sfard, said it’s clear that the prosecutor’s office is opening a new case, a move which negates its conclusion that Issacharoff lied.
Issacharoff has maintained that he is guilty, while other members of his unit have rejected his account.
The right-wing group Im Tirtzu has called on the Foreign Ministry to fire Issacharoff’s father, Jeremy Issacharoff, who is Israel’s Ambassador to Germany.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely rejected their call, stating that the ambassador was an “esteemed” diplomat and there was no connection between his service to the country and his son’s activities.
“Israel will continue to defend IDF soldiers and will not allow them to be slandered” by an organization that “relies on anonymous and unverified testimonies,” Hotovely said.


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