Indictment: Border Guard officers robbed Arabs in Jerusalem

Internal Affairs Division says three armed, off-duty officers in uniform led Arabs to alley, stole their money

Aviad Glickman|Published: 06.06.12 , 15:02

Israel Police's Internal Affairs Division on Wednesday filed an indictment with the Jerusalem District Court against three Border Guard officers who are suspected of robbing Arabs.

The three were charged with conspiring to commit a crime, robbery and attempted robbery.

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According to the indictment, about a week and a half ago the defendants, who are residents of Akko, Petah Tikva and Daliyat el-Carmel, left a Border Guard base and headed to central Jerusalem. The off-duty uniformed officers, who were carrying their weapons, allegedly grabbed an Arab man from behind and proceeded to question him on his place of residence. The man presented his identification card and a permit to stay in Israel.

The officers allegedly led the man to a nearby alley and ordered him to face the wall, empty his pockets and place his belongings and money on the ground. After sifting through the man's belongings, the officers placed them back in his bag – but kept NIS 370 ($95) in cash for themselves.

The officers then ordered the Arab to leave without looking back or opening his bag, according to the charges.

In another incident mentioned in the indictment, the three officers approached three Arabs from east Jerusalem at a bus station, led them to an alley and robbed them of more than NIS 370.

The officers, according to the indictment, returned to the station and ordered two Arabs to get off a bus. The officers led the men to a nearby alley, and stole NIS 2,500 (about 640$) from them, according to the charges.