Cop filmed beating Palestinian truck driver is fired

In a statement, the Israel Police says Thursday that an officer filmed beating a Palestinian truck driver in Jerusalem has been let go.

Moshe Cohen, an officer in the elite Yasam unit of the Jerusalem Police, was suspended immediately after footage of him beating Wadi Joz resident Mazen Shwieki on March 23 was broadcast by Israel Radio. Cohen asked to resign from the force, saying he accepted responsibility and regretted his actions, but after an inquiry into the incident, his superiors refused his resignation request.

“It was decided that in light of the severity of the incident and the evidence [against Cohen], his request to resign of his own volition is rejected and he will be fired,” a police statement says.

The incident, the statement adds, was “anomalous, violent and contravenes all the organization’s values. An officer who behaves in this way has no place in the Israel Police.”

Cohen is also being investigated by the Justice Ministry’s Police Investigations Department.