Left-wing activist, whom settlers shoved on camera, to be questioned under caution
Peace Now says its CEO Lior Amichai now a suspect, while settlers are not; clash took place after tour of West Bank Bedouin hamlet whose residents fled following settler attacks
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The left-wing group Peace Now said Sunday that its director, Lior Amichai, had been summoned for questioning under caution after a clash, caught on video, in which settlers were seen shoving him and fellow activists during a tour highlighting Israeli settler expansion and violence in the West Bank.
“Despite the fact that the attackers attacked with their faces uncovered, and the entire incident was recorded and shared widely in the media – to the best of our knowledge, the attackers are yet to be arrested,” the settlement watchdog said on X.
“Instead, the police are acting as is expected of them in the Ben Gvir era, and have chosen to question under caution precisely the one who was attacked,” it charged.
The accusation referred to the far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, during whose tenure a surge in violence by settlers against Palestinians has been met with few arrests and even fewer prosecutions.
“At the time of the attack, Peace Now members called the police, who did not arrive on-site, and immediately after the attack, Amichai filed a complaint,” the post added.
As of Monday morning, there was no comment from the police about the matter.
אלימות מתנחלים קשה במעיין עין סמיה בשטחים:
ליאור עמיחי, מנכ"ל 'שלום עכשיו' הוכה ונחבל בפניו על ידי מתנחלים במהלך סיור שמקיימת התנועה לפעילים מרכזיים של מפלגת 'הדמוקרטים'.המתנחלים האלימים חסמו גם את משתתפי הסיור ולא אפשרו להם לעזוב את המקום במשך זמן ממושך. משטרת ישראל עודכנה… pic.twitter.com/Y3hvW7snR9
— שלום עכשיו (@PeaceNowIL) May 14, 2026
The incident took place on May 14, when Amichai was leading a tour for members of the left-wing Democrats party.
The group had stopped at the Ein Samiya spring in the Jordan Valley, adjacent to where a Bedouin hamlet used to be located. The community members fled the area after coming under repeated attack by settlers shortly after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.
While the spring continued to be used by Bedouin communities in the area to feed their livestock, it was taken over during the last year by settlers who renovated it and prevented Palestinian access, according to Peace Now.
After the left-wing activists finished touring the area, they got back on a minibus and tried to depart before several settlers at the scene tried to block them, Amichai told The Times of Israel.
The settlers boarded the bus and demanded the IDs of the passengers. In the video, one of the settlers could be heard falsely claiming that the Arab bus driver was not allowed to be at the spring.
Amichai said he called the police, who told him to call the army. Shortly thereafter, soldiers from the Hagmar — a reserve unit made up of local settlers — arrived, and the attacking settlers fled.
With the road now clear, the minibus was able to leave the spring, but it was soon stopped at a checkpoint set up by IDF soldiers who told the passengers that they were being detained after the settlers alleged that the left-wing activists were the ones who attacked them, Amichai said.
An hour later, police arrived at the scene and an officer took down the identifying information of those on the minibus before releasing them to continue on their way.
MK Kariv, citing Bible, pans ‘them that call evil good’
Democrats MK Gilad Kariv responded to the news on X, invoking a passage from the Book of Isaiah.
“Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” he quoted.
“It won’t help Ben Gvir’s office, nor the sycophants in the police, nor the rioters and hooligans. We will get to the territories, and we won’t be deterred,” added Kariv, a Reform rabbi.
The Times of Israel Community.