Four Border Police officers suspected of assaulting Bedouin men

Investigators are probing four Border Police officers on suspicion of assaulting a pair of Bedouin men during a random search.

The suspects are officers in the National Guard unit, a fledgling force in the Border Police whose establishment was championed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

The four cops are said to have apprehended two Bedouin men, residents of Tel Sheva, for a random search in the town. At a certain point, the officers began beating them.

“Afterwards, the suspects left the area in their patrol vehicle, leaving the two injured at the scene,” says the Department of Internal Police Investigations (DIPI), a state agency that probes cops suspected of criminal offenses.

After interrogating the four, DIPI investigators released the officers back home. The four suspects are forbidden from contacting each other or entering police facilities for the next eight days.

The National Guard has been especially active in Bedouin communities in recent months as police continue to raid towns across the Negev.

Ben Gvir, who oversees police, has touted these raids as effective in stemming arms smuggling, traffic violations and violent crime, but the operation has received pushback from residents, who complain of frequent mistreatment by heavily-armed officers.