Ex-senior Navy officer named as one of 3 suspects in firing of flares at PM’s house
Court names Ofer Doron, who was suspended from IDF after halting reserve duty over 2023 judicial overhaul, and 2 veteran anti-government activists, in Saturday incident in Caesarea
A court on Tuesday cleared for publication the names of three suspects arrested for firing flares at the prime minister’s home in Caesarea on Saturday night, one of whom is a former senior Navy officer who paused his military reserve duty to protest the government’s judicial overhaul last year.
The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court named Rear Adm. (res.) Ofer Doron, who was suspended from the Israel Defense Forces in August 2023 in response to his decision to stop performing volunteer reserve duty, as well as longtime anti-government protesters Amir Sadeh and Itai Yafeh, as suspects.
The wife of one of the suspects told Channel 12 news that her husband was arrested by masked officers who came to the house late at night.
“It was terrifying,” she was quoted as saying. “Masked men arrested my husband and two others. All three are high-ranking reserve officers. Law-abiding people, who give their hearts and souls to the country. We are simply shocked that people like us are arrested like this, like security criminals.”
All three suspects will remain in detention until at least Thursday over the incident, which drew condemnation from across the political spectrum.
The three told police that they had not intended to fire the flares toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home, according to Channel 12. They reportedly claimed to have fired a test to make sure it would not head in that direction, but said the wind had forced it off course, causing it to land in the yard.
Nobody was harmed in the incident and no damage was caused, and the Netanyahus were not home at the time.
תיעוד: פצצות התאורה בחצר בית רה"מ בקיסריה | צפו
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Protesters have held near-weekly demonstrations outside the prime minister’s Caesarea home since the government began its controversial judicial overhaul plan early last year. Since the war in Gaza erupted with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, activists have held demonstrations in the coastal city demanding early elections, and calling on the government to strike a deal to free the Israeli hostages held in Gaza and restore security to southern and northern residents displaced for over a year.
Sources close to the suspects were quoted by Channel 12 as saying that the three had aimed to hold a “closing ceremony” on Saturday for the series of protests, noting that the Netanyahus had not spent time at the Caesarea residence for several months.
“They wanted to end the protests with a symbolic event — nothing more than that,” the anonymous sources were quoted as saying.
The Netanyahus’ private home in Caesarea was lightly damaged in a Hezbollah drone attack last month. Following that attack, the government reportedly demanded a NIS 2 million (just over half a million dollars) security upgrade at the estate.
Since then, Netanyahu has been working from a reinforced room on the basement level of the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, rather than from his usual office on a higher floor, in accordance with instructions from security officials, according to Hebrew media reports.
Sam Sokol contributed to this report.
