Footage seems to contradict claim Arab prosecutor resisted arrest before cops beat him

Body camera footage published Friday appeared to contradict the police claim that an Arab Israeli government prosecutor had been resisting arrest when he was beaten by cops in his home last week.

The Haaretz daily published footage from one of the officers involved in the violent arrest of government prosecutor Salah Khalil Faisal Na’ameh in Beersheba.

The footage appeared to contradict the police claim that the lawyer was violent toward the officers before they pounced on him and started beating him.

The video showed a bloodstain on the floor after Na’ameh was detained. The lawyer does not appear to be resisting arrest.

Police accused Na’ameh and his two relatives, who both work in medicine, of assaulting officers who arrived at the apartment.

The three rejected the police’s version of events, saying that officers attacked and arrested them last week after entering their Beersheba apartment over an apparent noise complaint.

הסרטון לא משקר.
השוטרים כן שיקרו.
עשו לינץ׳ על סניגור בדירתו.
ועדיין לא נעצרו.
מדוע היועמ״שית ופרקליט המדינה לא מורים על מעצר מידי של התוקפים? https://t.co/apF3fUxxrS pic.twitter.com/u9J542CnoX

— Ahmad Tibi (@Ahmad_tibi) May 8, 2026

Na’ameh, who works for the Southern District Attorney’s Office, has since had surgery to mend his broken nose. He also suffered injuries to one of his eyes and both kidneys, according to Haaretz.

The Department of Internal Police Investigations (DIPI), which probes police officers on suspicion of criminal offenses, has launched an investigation into the incident.

The three mens’ lawyer, Tomer Gonen, told Haaretz that they had been sitting on the balcony and listening to music on May 1, when they noticed three police officers in civilian clothes had entered the house.

According to the outlet, one of the three cops lived nearby. The officers did not present them with a warrant, and so the three asked them to leave. The officers initially complied, but later that night arrived with backup.

Once the prosecutor caught a glimpse of a large group of police officers wearing helmets and masks outside the building, he called the police. The dispatcher reportedly instructed him not to open the door, but the officers soon burst into the house and violently detained the three, according to Haaretz.

“They stomped on my head, kicked me, told me that I’m ‘resisting arrest’ and cursed me. During the entire ride, they hit me and treated me like the worst of the criminals,” Na’ameh told a court hearing, according to Haaretz, noting that he appears in court every day as part of his job. “I didn’t believe that police could do such things.”

The prosecutor’s father, Khalil Na’ameh, told the Nazareth-based Nas Radio station that police continued to beat his son in the car and at the station while their body cameras were turned off.

Prior to the release of the footage, police claimed that Na’ameh and his two relatives attacked the officers while they tried to deal with the noise complaint.

“The three men in the house started to lash out at them, resist their actions and push them, while refusing to obey officers’ instructions,” police said in a statement. “At a certain point… the officers were attacked by the suspects, and additional police forces were called to the scene.”

According to Haaretz, the incident has strained relations between the police and the Southern District Attorney’s Office, whose employees believe their coworker’s version of events.

Several DIPI investigations have been opened in recent months against police officers suspected of violence against Arab Israelis.

In one case from January, investigators launched a probe into several officers on suspicion of shooting a man dead during a midnight raid in Tarabin al-Sana, then destroying the evidence. The investigation is ongoing.

Another investigation deals with four National Guard officers suspected of assaulting a pair of Bedouin men during a random search in Tel Sheva.