The Central District Court in Lod on Thursday rejected a police appeal and ordered the release to house arrest of the CEO of a cyber company suspected of shooting a 15-year-old boy near Yavne. The suspect had been held in custody for 10 days.
Judge Abbas Assi ruled that the executive would remain under house arrest until Feb. 24. “The wall of silence is deafening,” police said in response to the decision.
The shooting occurred last week in Moshav Ben Zakai in central Israel. According to an initial investigation, residents suspected the teenager and his friends of attempting to break into a building. A confrontation developed, during which the cyber company CEO — who serves in a local civilian emergency response squad — was stabbed and sustained very light injuries.
Police allege that in response, he drew his weapon and shot the teenager. The boy’s friends drove him toward a gas station at the southern exit of Yavne. The teen himself called police and reported that he had been shot in the abdomen.
The CEO is suspected of discharging a weapon in a built-up area and obstructing an investigation.
His attorneys, Gilad Baum and Hedva Baum, said their client is “a salt-of-the-earth Israeli” whom police are portraying as a criminal. They described him as a commander in the local emergency squad with no criminal record, a police volunteer, a firearms instructor and a holder of high-level security clearance.
“He responded to a WhatsApp alert from the moshav about three masked individuals entering,” his lawyers said. “From his perspective, he arrived at what he believed was a terrorist incident. During the event he was stabbed in the thigh. He is in severe emotional distress.”
They added that even after days of investigation, police have not fully clarified what happened. “He left his home as a member of the emergency squad believing there was a terrorist infiltration. He was stabbed in the leg, and the single shot may have been accidental discharge — possibly self-defense.”
Attorney Gilad Baum During the hearing, Gilad Baum said: “A salt-of-the-earth Israeli goes out as part of an emergency squad established by police to defend the moshav. From his perspective this was a terrorist incident. Let us not forget we are after Oct. 7. He finds himself entangled, and police are acting as if they caught a criminal.”
Judge Assi, after reviewing investigative materials from the Shfela District police unit, appeared to question the sequence of events. According to statements made in court, investigators are still uncertain who stabbed the emergency squad member — an injury that allegedly led to the shooting.
A police representative argued there was concern the suspect could obstruct the investigation if released. He said that despite multiple opportunities, the emergency squad member did not report the incident to the police emergency hotline.
“Everything points to a wall of silence between him and others in the moshav,” the police representative said. “He did not activate the emergency squad. Everything happened in the dark. There is a public interest in getting to the truth.”
A resident of the moshav defended the suspect, saying, “They are treating him like the worst of criminals. We are ashamed of what was done to him. Suddenly masked men who arrive in a moshav at midnight become teenagers who came to spray graffiti. It hurts us. He is an amazing person. On his own initiative he would guard outside the synagogue to give us a sense of security. Let it be known that anyone who holds a weapon as part of an emergency squad could get into trouble and be left alone.”
The court imposed a gag order on the CEO’s identity, citing his security-related occupation.