Police zigzag on racism motive in disabled woman rape case

Police twice changed a charge sheet for a Palestinian suspect in the rape of a disabled Israeli woman, finally settling on a racism motive, during a roller coaster court hearing in the politically fraught case Monday.

The confused court proceedings came a day after police said the gang rape of a disabled Jewish woman by three people — a Palestinian man and teenager and an Israeli man — was likely not a nationalistically motivated attack. The two Palestinians were arrested last week while the Israeli man remains at large.

A charge sheet presented to the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court initially included the racism clause and a request to keep Imad Aldin Draghmah detained for eight more days.

However, a police representative first asked for the racism charge to be removed, and then shortly afterwards, to be included again, citing the ongoing police search for the third suspect.

The court ordered that Draghmah remain in custody until Thursday.

The second Palestinian suspect is underage, so his case is being handled by the Tel Aviv juvenile court.

Police revealed last Wednesday that the two Palestinians were arrested in the rape of a mentally and physically handicapped Israeli woman in Jaffa earlier this month. The third man, an Israeli citizen, is also believed to have been involved in the sexual assault.

According to reports, Draghmah filmed the attack on a mobile phone. Draghmah denies all of the charges against him.

The men suspected of involvement in the attack are believed to have raped the disabled young woman and abused her, urinating and spitting on her, and shouting racial epithets during the attack, according to earlier reports.

The two Palestinians who have been arrested were originally from the West Bank but had been renting an apartment in Tel Aviv, a police spokesperson told The Times of Israel at the time. Draghmah had a legal permit to live in Tel Aviv, while the minor was doing so illegally, the official said.

Due to the victim’s physical and mental disabilities, police said they are treating the case with increased sensitivity and “caution.”

The incident became politicized on Thursday when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used it to denounce the Israeli left and media, who he said didn’t condemn the attack.

The prime minister on Friday backtracked and apologizing for drawing conclusions before the police investigation was completed.

In a Facebook post Thursday evening, Netanyahu said the “horrifying crime” warranted “wall-to-wall condemnation,” condemnation that was not forthcoming “neither from the media nor from across the political spectrum.”

Netanyahu’s post was roundly condemned by left-wing politicians.

On Friday, Netanyahu wrote that the “incident, as it was reported, caused me deep pain and shock. At the same time, it was wrong that I address the subject before an investigation and I regret that.”

Earlier Thursday, before Netanyahu’s original post, Meretz head Zehava Galon wrote on Facebook that the incident was “so awful, that it’s hard to even read about it, and impossible to imagine what the victim was going through right now.”

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.