Court orders release to house arrest of 4 anti-government activists accused of firing flares at Netanyahu home

The Haifa District Court orders that the four anti-government activists accused of firing flares at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Caesarea be released to house arrest after over a month in detention since they were arrested in mid-November.

The four men were charged with “an act of terrorism of recklessness and negligence” and with “attempted arson” over the incident. The terrorism charges lent weight to the state’s demand that they be held in custody until the end of the legal proceedings.

Judge Zaid Falah of the Haifa District Court writes, however, that he does not believe there is enough evidence to convict the men on terror charges, although he says there is apparent evidence that they may be guilty of recklessness and negligence.

Falah also notes that there is “logical contradiction” in alleging a crime of recklessness and negligence in an allegedly deliberate arson attempt.

The judge determines that the four men’s clean criminal records, “along with the weakness of the evidence,” combined with their full cooperation under investigation and the regret they have expressed, mean that the danger they pose is diminished and they can be relied upon to comply with house arrest with electronic tagging.

According to prosecutors, the four were involved in firing two flares at Netanyahu’s house on the night of November 16 during weekly protest activities against the premier and the government.

Nobody was harmed in the incident and no damage was caused, and the Netanyahus were not home at the time.

Channel 12 News reports that the State Attorney’s Office is considering appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, and that the Haifa Court has therefore delayed the release of the men until tomorrow and given prosecutors until 7 p.m. to decide whether or not to appeal.