Woman detained for allegedly assaulting Minister Silman at Rehovot shopping center

A woman was detained on suspicion of assaulting Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman at an outdoor shopping center in the central city of Rehovot on Wednesday morning.

Yarden Mann, 52, an activist in the anti-judicial overhaul protest movement, was arrested a few hours after the incident. She is suspected of threatening the Likud minister and slapping her in the face, according to police.

The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court extended Mann’s custody for five days.

Police told the court that Mann began to film Silman, cursing her, yelling “shame,” and threatening to hurt her, citing as evidence partial footage that shows the initial confrontation but not the assault, and multiple eyewitness testimonies.

“The minister asked why she was speaking to her that way, and then [Mann] allegedly attacked her by knocking out of her hand her cellphone, with which she was taking pictures of the suspect, and then slapped her in the face. With the assistance of passersby who witnessed the incident, the suspect was located,” police said.

Mann denied that she had attacked Silman, with her lawyer presenting CCTV footage showing them filming each other with no attack seen.

השרה עידית סילמן הגישה תלונה על תקיפה שעברה לכאורה על ידי אישה בת 52, מורה לחינוך מיוחד. המשטרה עיכבה את האישה, בחשד לתקיפה, בתיעוד נראה שהאישה מצלמת את סילמן, אבל לא תוקפת אותה בשום שלב. אז מה נסגר? pic.twitter.com/SmBnlK3SxV

— Yossi Eli (@Yossi_eli) January 24, 2024

“This is a woman without a criminal record, a teacher, a mother of a child on the spectrum. Minister Silman says things that aren’t true. The things said to Minister Silman were part of the public’s protest against the government and its actions. The investigation can go on without any need for arrest,” defense attorney Yoni Nussenabum said.

Rivka Asulin, a witness to the incident, told Channel 12 news that she saw Mann “slap [Silman] and knock her phone [out of her hands].”

“Idit picked up her phone and ran to her. After that, I saw they came back together. The suspect was videoing Idit, and that’s it, the police came and handled the incident,” she said.

The owner of a store in the center also told Channel 12 that he saw the encounter between the minister and the suspect, and also said he saw Mann slap Silman and knock the phone out of her hands.

Lior Mann, Yarden’s husband, told Channel 12 news that his wife did not come to the shopping center to protest and that confronting the minister was a “spontaneous act.”

“And from the moment she saw her, she wanted to hear her view and criticize her for what is going on right now. Apparently, it’s forbidden to criticize Idit Silman. Idit Silman put her phone in my wife’s face, and she pushed away [Silman’s] hand. Silman tried to make this a media affair and succeeded. Now we are here at court,” Lior said.

This is not the first time Silman claims to have been assaulted.

In 2021, she said she was physically harassed at a gas station in Modiin, but investigators closed their probe after they failed to find witnesses to confirm the incident.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.