Police charge right-wing activists with assaulting bereaved father at hostage rally
Indictment says Shimon Biton and Uri Harush beat and wounded Gadi Kedem, who lost his daughter and her family on October 7
The Israel Police filed an indictment and sought an arrest warrant for two right-wing activists on Thursday over their involvement in a scuffle with bereaved father Gadi Kedem on Saturday night.
The police charged Shimon Biton, 63, and Uri Harush, 43, with attacking and injuring an elderly person after the two men attacked 65-year-old Kedem, who was subsequently taken to the hospital by medics.
The fight broke out on Saturday at the weekly protest in Tel Aviv calling for the immediate return of the hostages being held by terrorists in Gaza.
Police initially questioned Kedem under caution over the incident, with him saying his attackers went free.
In Thursday’s indictment, the police also filed a request to keep Biton and Harush under arrest until the end of the proceedings.
According to the indictment, Biton and Harush were among a group of right-wing activists who had shown up at the Saturday protest to oppose the demonstrators.
Police charged that during the face-off, another right-wing activist named Avraham Sa’ad pushed Kedem’s wife, Reuma, who was holding onto his sign. As he pushed her, Sa’ad called Reuma a traitor and said: “It’s good they murdered your children, leftist traitor.”
עוד זווית מתקיפת ראומה וגדי קדם אמש על ידי תומכי נתניהו. אחרי שביביסטים התעמתו עם ראומה והחזיקו שלט ״שמאלנים בוגדים״ ואמרו לה ״טוב שהרגו את הילדים שלכם״ ראומה ניסתה לקחת לתומך נתניהו את השלט מהיד והוא הכה אותה באגרוף. שניה לאחר מכן גדי חוצה את הגדר. מהזווית הזאת נראה שהוא הודף את… pic.twitter.com/KJrKjpgyNE
— בר שם-אור Bar Shem-Ur (@Bar_ShemUr) May 19, 2024
The indictment went on to charge that while trying to fend off Sa’ad, Gadi Kedem and Sa’ad fell onto the road, at which point Biton hit Kedem over the head with his sign while Harush kicked Kedem in the back.
In a video of the incident, Kedem could be seen after the fight with a bloody wound on his head.
In their interrogations, Biton and Harush denied hitting Kedem and claimed that his injury had occurred when he fell onto the road. They both identified themselves in a video from the scene, but Biton claimed he had been trying to break up the fight, while Harush said he had kicked Kedem “accidentally.”
On October 7, the Kedems’ daughter Tamar, son-in-law Yonatan and three grandchildren — Shahar, Arbel and Omer — were all murdered by Hamas in their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Yonatan’s mother, Carol, was also slain that day.
