Family of settler teen says closure of probe into his death is 'a stab in the heart'

Attorney for Ahuvia Sandak’s family alleges the head of Police Internal Investigations Department allowed the officers involved ‘to coordinate their stories’

The family of a settler teen killed last year during a car chase has slammed the decision made last week by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to close the probe against the police officers involved in the incident, calling it a “stab in the heart.”

Ahuvia Sandak, 16, was killed in a crash while fleeing from police in December 2020, allegedly after throwing rocks at Palestinians. Repeated recent protests over Sandak’s death have escalated into violence and arrests, with demonstrators blaming the death on the police car ramming into the fleeing vehicle.

“Why do we not have the elementary right of having the case go to court?” said Avraham Sandak, Ahuvia’s father, on Sunday.

“If the ramming killed Ahuvia’s body, now a sword of untruth is impaling his soul. The blood of our beloved son Ahuvia cries out from the ground. We, the parents of Ahuvia, are fighting not only for his blood, but for the blood of all of Israel. We will do everything we can so that our son will be the last killed by police violence and unjust hate.”

The family’s lawyer alleged that the head of the Police Internal Investigations Department — a Justice Ministry body that probes alleged police wrongdoing — intervened in the investigation, releasing the officers involved, and thus allowing them to “coordinate their story.”

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit at the press conference announcing his decision to make then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu stand trial, November 21, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Last week, Mandelblit announced that he was closing the investigation, finding no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

A statement from Mandelblit’s office said the evidence in the case showed police were justified in chasing after the car carrying Sandak, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Bat Ayin, and four other young settlers, and that there were no grounds for claiming officers intentionally rammed the vehicle.

The statement added that it could not be clearly determined which car swerved, leading to the crash in which the car carrying Sandak flipped over.

“Along with this, the attorney general asked the police commissioner to conduct an orderly review in the Israel Police, which will examine the need for improving or clarifying the relevant operational guidelines in light of the danger inherent in vehicular chases,” the statement said.