‘Hate wedding’ groom accused of abusing dog
Yakir Ashbel, 3 others charged with animal cruelty, based on evidence gathered as part of probe into wedding video
The investigation into the groom who gained notoriety last month when revelers at his wedding were filmed celebrating violence against Palestinians has led to him being indicted, along with three others, on charges of animal cruelty.
According to the charges, which pertain to an event that occurred three years ago, Yakir Ashbel and his friends tied an iron chain to the neck of a dog in the illegal outpost of Ramat Migron. The four tied the other end of the chain to a tree. One of the four then pulled on the chain, choking the dog and forcing it to stand back on its hind legs, while the others cheered him on.
They then hurled a rock at the dog, hitting it in the head, before it managed to escape.
According to Channel 10 news, the incident was brought to light after police confiscated computers and cellphones belonging to the suspects, as part of the probe into the wedding video.
One of the four suspects is also suspected of arson attacks against Palestinians.
Ashbel’s wedding made headlines in December after footage emerged of dozens of right-wing activists celebrating the Duma firebombing attack that killed three members of a Palestinian family.
Several people were detained — including Ashbel himself — as part of a probe into the incident, in which wedding-goers danced with guns, knives and a mock Molotov cocktail.
The video, aired by Channel 10, also showed revelers holding a photo of baby Ali Dawabsha, who was burned to death in the July 31 firebombing, and repeatedly stabbing the picture.
The crowd in the video chanted the lyrics of a song which include a verse from Judges 16:28, quoting Samson, blinded in Gaza, saying “let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes” — but changing the word Philistines to Palestine.
Before his arrest, Ashbel had claimed he had not been aware of the celebrations of the murder at his wedding.
“I didn’t even see it. At my wedding I was in the clouds, not on the ground at all,” he told Channel 10.
He called the footage “shocking,” but insisted that “there were about 600 people at my wedding, and this wasn’t something I agreed to. There were a million people. I don’t control what happens at my wedding. I’m just the groom; I didn’t even pay for the photographer or the singer.”
