Police drop probe of 3 arrested for placing hostage flyers at Edelstein’s synagogue

Attorney for women says investigation was closed on the grounds of ‘lack of culpability,’ calls their arrest over incident at Knesset speaker’s synagogue ‘spurious’

By ToI Staff 26 December 2024, 3:14 pm

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Flyers urging the release of hostages held by Hamas placed on the seats at a synagogue in Herzliya, September 13, 2024 (Detainee Support Organization)

Police on Thursday dropped an investigation against three women who distributed flyers highlighting the plight of the hostages in Gaza in a synagogue in Herzliya attended by senior Likud MK Yuli Edelstein.

Ran Tager, an attorney representing the three women, said the investigation was closed on the grounds of “a lack of culpability,” meaning that the investigation will be erased from the women’s criminal record.

The three women were arrested in September on suspicion of trespassing after they distributed leaflets urging the release of Hamas hostages at a synagogue in the coastal city where Edelstein prays.

“Their spurious arrest is a mark of shame for the police, and my clients are considering their next steps on the matter,” said Tager, who represented the women on a pro bono basis.

The flyers showed the pictures of four of the female soldiers taken hostage by Hamas, along with Ariel and Kfir Bibas, the two youngest children who remain captive in Gaza. The hostages were among 251 people abducted from Israel on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people.

In the center of the flyer was a picture of Edelstein from his time in a Soviet prison, with the caption “Let my people go,” a popular rallying cry by supporters of Jewish refuseniks.

שלוש נשים נעצרו בהרצליה בחשד להסגת גבול לאחר שפיזרו עלונים שקראו לשחרור החטופים בבית הכנסת בו מתפלל יולי אדלשטיין@AnnaPines_ pic.twitter.com/pToxqDN1Ud

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 13, 2024

The arrest generated outrage and accusations that the investigation was politically motivated.

Police Commissioner Daniel Levy ordered a probe into the arresting officers’ conduct, but that was superseded by an investigation ordered by the Department for Internal Police Investigations of the State Attorney’s Office.

Flyers urging the release of hostages held by Hamas that were distributed at a synagogue in Herzliya, September 13, 2024. (Screenshot via X; used in accordance of clause 27a of the copyright law).

Three women who were later arrested for trespassing are seen placing flyers urging the release of hostages held by Hamas, at a synagogue in Herzliya, September 13, 2024. (X screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

It was not immediately clear who alerted police about the flyers.

After the incident, Edelstein said he “completely understood” why “the people of my synagogue filed a complaint with police.” However, the synagogue swiftly denied that it had called in officers.