East Jerusalem resident who set off Herzliya manhunt to be released

Court disinclined to extend arrest of Ahmad Khatib; lawyer says his father called the cops because son refused to give him money

By Stuart Winer

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6 January 2016, 7:07 pm

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Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.

Israeli security forces frisk Arab Israelis near the Central Bus Station in Herzliya, as forces search for a suspect after an alert of an impending terror attack, January 5, 2016. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday released from custody Ahmad Khatib from East Jerusalem, the day after he prompted a massive manhunt in the city of Herzliya because his father said he was planning to carry out a terror attack.

Khatib, 20, from the neighborhood of Sur Baher, was said to have stormed out of his family home after an argument with his father, and indicated he was going to do something extreme. His father called police, telling them he believed his son was going to launch an attack. After hours of searching, Khatib was apprehended in Herzliya.

The court declined a police request to extend his arrest by five days and said cops had only provided partial information on the case. However, the court delayed Khatib’s actual release from custody to give police time for an appeal against the decision.

Police told the court that Khatib was wanted for making threats, attacking a policewoman, endangering lives for “nationalistic” reasons, damaging a vehicle and stealing from a gas station.

Judge David Shaul Gabai Richter countered that the only reasonable suspicion was for the theft from a gas station, a crime that does not meet the grounds for detention. Khatib was ordered to stay away from Sur Baher for six days and post bail of NIS 1,000.

Khatib’s attorney Ashraf Hassan said the father and son had argued over money.

“The whole incident began with an argument between the son and his father, since the father doesn’t stop asking him for money from the wage he gets from his hard work at a supermarket in Talpiot in Jerusalem,” Hassan said.

After Khatib walked out of the argument, his father contacted police, who launched a frantic search for the suspect.

Hassan claimed Khatib called police himself when he saw his picture in the media, something the police denied.

On Tuesday dozens of officers had combed Herzliya, a Tel Aviv suburb, after Khatib evaded a police checkpoint in Jerusalem. His car was found abandoned in the center of the Herzliya.

The search came alongside an unrelated manhunt for an Israeli Arab man, Nashat Milhem, wanted for allegedly opening fire at a Tel Aviv bar Friday, killing two, and murdering a taxi driver.

Agencies contributed to this report.