Police reopen probe into assault on Arabic-speaking woman on bus after family submits new footage

Police have reopened an investigation into an assault on a young Druze woman whose family says she was attacked on a bus in central Israel in August for speaking Arabic, a spokesperson says.

In response to a query from The Times of Israel, a police spokesperson confirms that police had closed the investigation that followed an initial complaint from the family. The investigation was closed because police were unable to identify the suspects, but was reopened after the complainants submitted new footage to police today, the spokesperson says.

The comments come after Hebrew media over the weekend published security camera footage from the bus, timestamped to August 6, that shows Jewish youths throwing items at the woman, who gets up and moves to the front of the bus.

The assault happened on the Dan bus company’s line 66, which runs between Tel Aviv and Petah Tikva, and the victim’s brother obtained the footage weeks later, according to independent journalist Daniel Amram, who first reported the incident.

Amram quotes the brother as saying, “Nobody even intervened because they were afraid to deal with the youths.”

Amram says the youths called the victim a “filthy Arab” and told her she has “no place in this country” and to get off the bus.

The victim told Channel 13, “I cried and felt transparent — nobody should have to go through something like this.”

Both Amram and Channel 13 identified the victim’s brother as a fighter pilot in the IDF’s reserves and her father as a brigadier general in a classified unit.

תיעוד הנערות והנערים מזעזעים שקיללו וזרקו גרביים וחפצים על צעירה דרוזית רק כי דיברה בערבית! אין לתאר את הרוע . אחות של טייס חיל האוויר. צעקו לעברה : ״ערבייה מסריחה
הצעירה, בת לתא״ל ביחידה מסווגת ואחות לטייס קרב, נסעה בקו 66 של ״דן״ כשקבוצת נערים תקפו אותה, עד שנאלצה לעבור מקום.… pic.twitter.com/ojRACILSpz

— Yossi Eli (@Yossi_eli) October 11, 2026