Outpost evacuation (archives)
Photo: AFP
Officer to stand trial for attacking teen during outpost evacuation
Judea and Samaria District policeman caught on film beating youth near West Bank settlement of Hashmonaim last year
A special patrol unit officer from the Judea and Samaria District Police will be placed on disciplinary trial after he was photographed beating a teenager during the evacuation of an illegal outpost near the West Bank settlement of Hashmonaim.
The incident took place a year ago, while a group of teens arrived at a certain point near the settlement as part of an illegal outpost-building operation throughout the West Bank under the banner, “Continued settlement in Judea and Samaria.”
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During a confrontation which broke out between the parties, one of the boys was pushed down and beaten in the head with a rock.
According to Attorney Benny Levin, who submitted a complaint to the Police Investigation Unit on behalf of a human rights organization in the West Bank, the officer violently removed the teen from the area and smacked him in the face, despite the fact that the boy did not resist.
The human rights group noted in the complaint that the officer did not know that he was photographed by one of the girls in the group and that the film was given to the Police Investigation Unit.
According to the organization, the same officer attacked fallen soldier Amichai Merchavia in 2002 during the evacuation of the illegal outpost of Havat Gilad.
Merchavia was killed two years later in the Second Lebanon War. The handling of the case was put on hold due to “lack of public interest,” and is still pending in the appeals department at the State Prosecutor’s Office.
The Judea and Samaria District Police said in response that when a decision is made in regards to the the officer for violent behavior six years ago, it will be examined.
