Border Police reinstate officer convicted of assaulting Arab woman at checkpoint

The commander of the Border Police announces he is reinstating an officer who was convicted last week of assaulting an East Jerusalem woman by pulling the victim’s hijab from her hair, choking her and shaking her without cause.

A Police statement says the move was authorized by Commissioner Kobi Shabtai and by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and noted that legal proceedings were “still ongoing.”

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court found Oriane Ben Kalifa guilty of assault but acquitted her of obstructing justice, partly citing the sloppy manner in which the Police Internal Investigations Department carried out the investigation.

The far-right Ben Gvir, who is in charge of police, slammed the judge’s ruling, saying at the time the verdict was “not final” and that he would contact police to see what could be done on behalf of Ben Kalifa.

Today, he welcomes her reinstatement.

“Our fighters have my full backing. Contrary to what officials in the military prosecution and the judicial system apparently believe, when fighting terrorism the fight is not conducted under laboratory conditions — but under pressure and in a hostile environment,” Ben Gvir says.