Suspect in attack on three Arabs at Haifa beach placed under house arrest

The Haifa Magistrate’s Court on Saturday ordered that a 23-year-old Jewish resident of Nesher, arrested on suspicion of attacking three Arab Israeli residents of Shfaram in a beach near Haifa, be placed under house arrest for the next three days.

The court also ordered that the suspect’s name not be published, the Walla news site reported.

A police appeal against the release of the suspect was rejected by the court early Sunday, according to the Ynet news site.

A second suspect, a 29-year-old also from Nesher, was arrested by police on Saturday and will be brought before the court on Sunday for a remand hearing, Haaretz reported.

The three victims, a doctor and two nurses from the northern town of Shfaram, filed a complaint with police Thursday, saying they were relaxing at the beach the night before when they were approached by the suspect, who asked them if they were Arabs.

After they replied that they were, the suspect allegedly left and came back with about nine other people and proceeded to beat the trio.

“They came over with knives, with metal bars. They just started beating us for no reason,” the doctor, whose name was withheld, told Hadashot TV news. “They planned to kill us, all three of us.”

“This was a nationalistic attack,” he added.

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The victim said he and his two friends received help from two people who managed to stop the attack and called police and an ambulance.

“Not all people are bad like these guys were. The people who helped us were these two Jews who got the group to get away,” he said.

“Not all the people are the same, and we are also part of the nation of Israel,” he said.

The three victims were taken to hospital to receive medical attention for their injuries.

Another victim, ‘M,’ said it was the first time he had encountered such violence. “How can someone ask someone what they are and then beat them?” he said. “Are we not allowed to be here because we’re Arabs? This is a public place and all Israelis are allowed. I was born here in Haifa.”

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The head of the Joint (Arab) List party, Ayman Odeh, tied the incident to the recent controversial law that defines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

“The hidden clause in the nation-state law attacks on Arabs based on racism. These are not fringe elements, but a reality under the auspices of [the] government incitement policy,” he wrote.

Another Arab MK echoed his comments. “It’s not happenstance… This is the unavoidable result of the wild incitement and delegitimization led by the heads of government against the Arab public,” MK Aida Touma-Sliman said.

Police said it had launched an investigation into the case, and said they were aware of the identities of at least two other suspected attackers.