Jerusalem municipal welfare official Ruti Matot, who accompanied Haim and Violet Habibi for the past eight years, said she was not surprised to hear that the couple was behind the incident at the Church of Annunciation, revealing that on Wednesday night they had hitchhiked with their baby to the foster home of one of their sons in the territories, a son they had not seen for five years.
Matot said they visited the home despite the fact that they were legally restricted from doing so.
“They arrived at the home even though the address was unlisted. At around 12:30 a.m. they knocked on the door. The foster family was very frightened. There were threats and curses and screaming,” she said.
Police officers arrived and arrested the Habibi couple; at 2:30-3:00 a.m., Haim and Violet Habibi were released and asked officers to drop them off at a junction, as they were homeless.
“At this stage we decided to take their baby to a welfare services emergency center under a court order,” Matot said.
Welfare services are authorized to take a child from his or her parents if they believe that child’s life is in danger.
According to Matot, the couple refused to take her calls and informed another municipal welfare official that a disaster was about to take place, but did not offer any details.
“When we heard of these threats, we believed the disaster they spoke of would involve me and my family, as they had threatened before," she said.
‘No reason to keep couple detained’
In light of the threats police officers kept watch over Matot’s home as of Thursday.
Five years ago the Jerusalem Municipality Welfare Department managed to take the couple’s three children away from them; since then the daughter, who also took part in the Nazareth incident, has grown up and rejoined her parents.
Following the birth of their fourth child, Matot says, the family was located in a homeless encampment outside the Finance Ministry; the couple repeatedly turned down offers for financial assistance from welfare services, according to Matot.
She added that the couple had threatened welfare employees on a number of occasions over the past eight years, adding that Haim Habibi even served an 18-month prison sentence following complaints.
The question remains whether police did enough to prevent Friday’s incident.
“There was no reason to keep them detained,” a police official said. “The couple did not violate court order and there was no complaint filed by the foster family.”