Report: Police probe indicates Otzma Yehudit MK, CEO helped settler suspect escape

An ongoing police investigation indicates that Yitzhak Kroizer and Itiel Neiman, respectively a lawmaker and the CEO of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party, allegedly assaulted officers during an October 1 riot in the central West Bank that thwarted the arrest of a suspect in violence against Palestinians, the Haaretz daily reported on Sunday.

Two police officers were hospitalized following the riot in the Mitzpe Yeriho settlement, and the suspect who fled is still at large, the newspaper said.

Ben Gvir, who arrived on the scene after the suspect escaped, expressed support for the rioters and accused police of using excessive force to disperse them, according to sources cited by the newspaper.

Other Hebrew media outlets also reported on Kroizer and Neiman’s involvement in the clash, and the suspect’s escape. Neiman is now also a candidate for the Knesset on behalf of Otzma Yehudit in the coming October 27 elections.

According to Haaretz, senior police officers are now demanding Kroizer and Neiman be investigated for assaulting officers, disrupting police work, and helping a suspect escape, but fear the case will be mishandled because of the pair’s ties to Ben Gvir, who, as national security minister, oversees the police. The news outlet said the case is expected to be reviewed by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

Ben Gvir has long faced accusations of over-interference in police work, including from Baharav-Miara, who earlier this year told the High Court of Justice that legal efforts to prevent the minister from undermining police independence have failed.

The riot in Mitzpe Yeriho erupted after police chased a car occupied by three masked settlers suspected of attacking a neighboring Palestinian village, Haaretz reported. The chase reportedly led police into Mitzpe Yeriho during a memorial event at a local synagogue for Neiman’s brother Aviad, a resident of the settlement who was killed fighting in Lebanon in October 2024. The synagogue is named for the fallen soldier.

Police managed to block the suspects’ car near the synagogue, but two of them fled, Haaretz said. The third suspect was reportedly detained and put in the police vehicle.

Dozens of rioters then surrounded the police car and slashed its tires, Haaretz said. They were allegedly led by Neiman, who threatened not to let the officers in the car leave until they released the suspect, according to senior police sources cited by the newspaper. Neiman was also said to have demanded the officers hand over phones the suspects had left behind in their car.

The officers said they stood outside the police car to stop the suspect from escaping, and were then shoved by rioters who opened the car door and let him out, the newspaper reported.

Riot police reportedly arrived on the scene and started clashing with the settlers. One officer reportedly suffered a broken nose, and another a broken arm.

Evidence and testimony from the clash indicate that Kroizer hit an officer and Neiman grabbed an officer by the shirt and pulled him to the ground, according to police sources cited by Haaretz.

Following the clash, officers who attempted to drive the vehicle with the slashed tires were blocked again for some 30 minutes by dozens of settlers, some of whom banged on the car windows. The settlers were accompanied by Ben Gvir, who berated one of the officers in the car, that officer told his superiors, according to Haaretz.

In responses quoted by the newspaper, Ben Gvir and Neiamn said the allegations against them constitute defamation, and Kroizer said he was “assaulted by officers even after I identified myself as a member of Knesset.”

Police said in a statement to the newspaper that an investigation was launched immediately after the incident.

“The investigation is being carried out according to the law and police procedures while carrying out all necessary actions,” police said.

Speaking to Army Radio on Sunday, Ben Gvir said, “There are a few police officers who think they are above the law. The opposite is the truth. An officer attacked Kroizer. Those days are over — anyone who raises their hand will be dealt with.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other ministers have regularly downplayed settler violence as a marginal concern, claiming that nearly all incidents are the work of a few hundred wayward youths, despite attacks taking place on a near-daily basis and occurring in hundreds of villages and towns across the West Bank.

Settler violence in the West Bank has risen sharply since the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza.

Critics accuse the government of condoning and even encouraging the violence, which has led to the displacement of dozens of Palestinian families.