Police arrest 7 soldiers on suspicion of involvement in quarrel near Atlit

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Police on Saturday arrested seven IDF soldiers on suspicion of involvement in a quarrel with civilians which took place on Friday night near Atlit Navy base. The soldiers claimed they tried to prevent the citizens from entering a closed military area; however the civilians, members of two Druze families from Bet Ja'an, claimed that the soldiers had attacked them for racial reasons. The families said that they visit Atlit Beach without incident almost every week, and that the place where they pitched tents was more than 200 meters from the fence of the base. One of the family members, a border policeman, was injured in the altercation, and was taken to Haifa's Rambam Hospital in a moderate condition. Police opened an investigation into the event, and said that traces of alcohol were found in two of the soldiers' blood.