Israeli arrested in Caribbean, may be charged with attempted murder

An Israeli man has been arrested in the Caribbean island of Antigua and may be charged with attempted murder after getting into a fight with locals, Hebrew media reported Wednesday.

The girlfriend of 30-year-old sailor Ilya Romanov claimed he was attacked by four men and defended himself, using a wine glass in his hand to hit out at one of the assailants. The man was injured in the neck by broken glass and is now in the hospital.

The Foreign Ministry said it was aware of the case, and Israel’s consul in the Dominican Republic is in contact with Romanov and his attorney, as well as local authorities, to see that he is treated fairly.

Romanov’s girlfriend Masha Shatilova said “the situation there is bad, it’s an isolated place, the laws there aren’t clear…Ilya is the calmest person I know, he was defending his life.”