Mayor David Yosef
Police arrest man for physically assaulting mayor
Or-Yehuda Mayor allegedly attacked by man with disability who claims to have been forcibly removed from residence, mistreated by city inspectors; mayor insists suspect 'received everything he is entitled to by law'
Or-Yehuda Mayor David Yosef filed a police complaint Sunday alleging that a 58-year-old homeless
man had attacked him using a walking cane. The mayor sustained light injuries as a result of the incident.
Police arrested the man, who according to suspicion had attacked Yosef following the suspect's eviction from an abandoned structure in the city.
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The suspect, a homeless man whose leg had been amputated, had been squatting in an abandoned school in Or-Yehuda. Recently, the man has protested in front of city hall, arguing that inspectors had been taking his belongings from the squat and that the mayor was ignoring his plight.
According to Mayor Yosef, "I was stepping out of a meeting and was talking with residents of the city, as the man approached me and said 'come see what I got,' waving some document.
"When I came closer he picked up a walking cane and jammed it in my ribs. I got a bruise, we started arguing, and I said, 'stop acting like a bully. You have problems? Take it up with welfare according to protocol and find out what you're entitled to.' He told me 'You're lucky it's a walking cane and not a machine gun.' Cops came over and arrested him."
A source familiar with the case noted that: "I'm against any form of violence, but I think the city has wronged this man; they took his wheelchair and mattress. They called the police instead of helping him and evicted him from his residence in the school, where he was dwelling for years."
Responding to accusation of wrongdoing, Mayor Yosef said: "The man entered an abandoned school and was living there. We received a court order to evict him. None of his belonging was thrown away, definitely not his wheelchair. A man can protest and I am willing to help him rehabilitate, but in this case, the man received everything he is entitled to by law."
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