Suspects have been arrested in connection with a violent robbery caught on security camera—but the family dog is still missing. Early Thursday, Central District police, undercover tactical units and Border Police officers operating in the West Bank arrested three suspects involved in the December 19 assault and theft of a Shih Tzu in Rishon Lezion’s Nahalat Yehuda neighborhood.
The dog, Luna, has yet to be found. “I’m waiting for the moment she comes home,” said her owner, Ofer Mandel. “I want the attackers to be brought to justice.”
On the morning of the incident, four masked assailants attacked Mandel in broad daylight, threatening him with a knife and spraying him with tear gas before stealing Luna, one of the two dogs he was walking. “The car stopped, they came out with masks, sprayed me with tear gas—and with knives, they took Luna,” Mandel recalled. The attackers also took his second dog, Candy, but a neighbor managed to wrest her back.
Following the assault, police launched a covert investigation using various technological tools. The three suspects were arrested across district lines in separate locations: one in Rishon Lezion, one in Tayibe, and one from Jaljulia who was apprehended in Qalqilya. A fourth suspect, also from Rishon Lezion, remains at large. The three will appear in court later today for a remand hearing.
2 View gallery
Three suspects were arrested in the dognapping attack
(Photo: Israel Police spokesperson)
Luna’s whereabouts remain unknown. A police official said: “We must bring Luna the dog home. In terms of the investigation, we are making every effort to find her. That’s our top priority—more than even arresting the suspects.” Authorities suspect the dog may have been transferred to Palestinian-controlled territory after the robbery, and are also examining whether she was taken as part of a ransom plot.
The robbery occurred shortly after 8:00 a.m., just minutes after Mandel left home with Luna and Candy. “I resisted and fought back,” he said. “They took both dogs, cut their leashes, threw me to the ground and kept attacking and spraying me. I tried to get up, but I couldn’t. You couldn’t open your eyes.”
Neighbor Rotem, who witnessed the attack while heading out for a workout, said: “I was putting on headphones and saw three people in ski masks beating Ofer. They knocked him down. I screamed and ran over—one of them was holding a dog. I managed to get one dog back—while physically fighting them. Ofer was lying on the ground, sprayed with gas.”
Video of the attack on Ofer Mandel of Rishon Letzion and his dogs
She described how she saved Candy from the attackers. “They started running off with the other dog. I chased them and screamed my lungs out. The driver pushed me away,” she said. “It was in broad daylight. The attackers didn’t say a word to me. It was terrifying. It could have been my daughter walking that dog. It looked like they came with a plan to snatch dogs in the neighborhood. Maybe it was for ransom.”