Prosecutors close probe into cops who shot Arab man in Jerusalem, find no crime committed

State Attorney Amit Aisman decides to close the probe into the conduct of the police officers involved in the shooting of an Arab Israeli man in Jerusalem’s Old City, which the cops said was self-defense after the man snatch a gun from one of them and fired it.

Police have been adamant that the killing of 26-year-old Mohammed Elasibi earlier this month was a response to an attempted attack. Eyewitnesses and Arab officials have mostly rejected that version of events, and former police officials said it is “hard to believe” the force’s insistence that the shooting wasn’t captured on any of the many CCTV cameras in the area.

But a probe by the Police Internal Investigations Department has now been closed “due to the lack of an offense,” Aisman’s office says in a statement, which adds the incident indeed happened in a place not covered by any cameras and that the cops didn’t have time to activate their body cameras.

After examining the various pieces of evidence, prosecutors arrive at the conclusion that it supports the police’s version of events and that there is “clear, direct and concrete evidence that no crime was committed.”