Haifa's downtown was gridlocked on Wednesday after police launched a search for a wanted Palestinian, who was eventually arrested.
But Ynet has learned that the man, a 32-year-old resident of Jenin, arrived in Haifa to testify in a civil lawsuit he filed against the State, seeking compensation for injuries sustained from two gunshot wounds to his leg during the first intifada in 1991.
Over the course of the past several months, the man repeatedly applied for an entry permit into Israel so he could testify at his case, but the Jenin District Coordination and Liaison office denied him a permit and told him the Shin Bet refused to grant him entry on security grounds.
Police searching in Haifa on Wednesday (Photo: Doron Golan)
Meron Cain, the attorney representing the man, said the Palestinian eventually did receive the necessary permit and a court date was set in accordance with the permit. On Wednesday morning the man arrived at the courthouse accompanied by a relative, who is restricted to a wheelchair and who was also meant to testify.
"While the relative was testifying, the plaintiff was not inside the courtroom but outside. From what I was told later, while he was waiting outside he was arrested by the Shin Bet and the police," said Cain.
"If he was so dangerous that half of the Haifa police had to be called to arrest him, why would they even let him near Haifa in the first place," said Cain, calling his client's arrest an act of "unparalleled audacity".
According to Cain his client could have been stopped from coming to Israel by the District Coordination office or any of the security checkpoints along the way.
"And if he's in Haifa anyways, why couldn't they have waited until he gave his testimony?" asked Cain, who has not yet been allowed to confer with his client and does not know where he is currently being held. Cain said that the reason his client was initially denied entry was because theShin Bet is interested in keeping those wounded in the first Intifada out of Israel.
The handicapped relative who accompanied the man has been forced to wait in the Haifa court and does not know how he will return to Jenin.
Security sources declined comment and said that the matter was being investigated.