3 Israelis indicted for attack on Palestinian photographer

The state prosecution on Sunday indicted three Israelis for attacking a Palestinian photojournalist two years ago while IDF soldiers allegedly turned a blind eye to the assault. The three — Mirhi Pinhasov, 48, of the settlement of Beit El, 25-year-old Yehiel Zilber of Jerusalem, and an unnamed minor — were charged at the Jerusalem District Court in a series of severe offenses that could land them in prison.

The three participated in a violent exchange between settlers from Beit El and residents of the nearby Jalazoun refugee camp, north of the West Bank city of Ramallah, on March 7, 2014, that featured rock throwing on both sides, the indictment said. At one point, AFP photographer Abbas Momani drove by slowly in order to document the scene, and the three allegedly pelted his vehicle with rocks. Pinhasov threw a large rock at the car from close range, the indictment said.

Photos and videos from the scene corroborated testimonies that said the Israeli rioters stoned Momani’s car, which had “PRESS” written on it. In photographs of the incident, four settlers are seen running, three of them with pistols. Another shows rioters stoning the car while the soldiers appear to look on.

At the time, Momani said the soldiers at the scene did not intervene to prevent the attack on him.

An Israel Defense Forces officer from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories — the unit that implements government policy vis-à-vis Palestinian civilians in the West Bank — arrived at the scene shortly after the attack and corroborated Momani’s account. While he requested that soldiers at the scene arrest the settlers for the assault, the battalion commander ordered the soldiers to move the settlers instead.

Two days after the incident, Momani filed a complaint with local police, who referred him to the Military Police Investigations Unit, but he said nothing was ever done. A year later, Momani’s lawyer was informed the complaint had been misplaced by the Israel Police and the State Prosecutor’s Office. Momani refiled his complaint; however, the Military Police Investigations Unit closed it a short time later.

Eyewitnesses said the incident was documented by a soldier from the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, but the office refused to turn over the footage at the request of the Military Police, Haaretz reported Sunday. An appeal to have the documentation turned over was also denied by the chief military prosecutor.

In response, IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Moti Almoz told Haaretz that “the unit’s documentation department was not tasked with incriminating IDF soldiers,” and urged the Military Police to find other evidence. Almoz added he wasn’t sure if his office had even kept the footage of the incident.

Later in March 2014, the Foreign Press Association filed a complaint with the chief military prosecutor and the IDF General Command alleging the Israeli soldiers turned a blind eye to violence against foreign journalists by settlers and military personnel in the West Bank.

The organization said that despite lodging official complaints, claims of violence against journalists had yielded no outcome. At the time, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that the letter from the Foreign Press Association had been received and that the unit would respond directly to the organization.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.