Sunday, March 5, 2017, 12:47 The Israeli Police informed Honenu that in response to a complaint filed against an intelligence officer who impersonated a right-wing activist and incited individuals to injure Arabs, guidelines on the matter will be clarified. However no disciplinary action will be taken.
The complaint was filed concerning the conduct of an intelligence officer from the Department of Nationalist Crimes in the Central Unit of the Yehuda and Shomron Police who opened a Facebook page under the name “Miro Amzaleg”, presented himself as a Lehava (The Organization for Prevention of Assimilation in the Holy Land) activist, and made contact with individuals. The complaint states that the intelligence officer incited individuals to harm Arabs and committed the violations of impersonation and
Screenshot of Amzaleg’s Facebook page
incitement. Among the incidents mentioned, before the November 2014 arson attack on a bi-lingual school in Jerusalem, “Amzaleg” corresponded with one of the arsonists and wrote on his Facebook page “No Arabs, no terror attacks”. (See photo “Miro Amzaleg with — ”
The Police Investigation Unit, with whom the complaint was filed, determined that the conduct described in the complaint does not constitute a criminal violation for which the penalty is at least one year. Therefore the handling of the matter was transferred to the Public Complaints Unit of the Israeli Police, which informed Honenu that the guidelines for the matter will be clarified, but the police will not take any disciplinary action against the officer.
Honenu notes that the decision not to open a criminal investigation was made despite the Supreme Court ruling that the saying “No Arabs, no terror attacks”, constitutes incitement to racism, a crime which carries the penalty of up to five years imprisonment.
In response to the decision, Honenu Attorney Menasheh Yado sent a letter to the PIU demanding that the case be reopened. “The need to clarify the guidelines indicates that the guidelines were violated,” wrote Yado. “This serious act must not be ignored. Not every policeman can act as an instigator. These things require supervision and specific justification.”
Photo: Screenshot of intelligence officer “Amzaleg’s” Facebook page
The post is dated October 24, 2014. The text quotes two common right-wing stickers: “No Arabs, no terror attacks” and “There is no peace with Arabs. Don’t give them rifles.”
The video pictured in the screen shot is the “Sticker Song” from Dag Nahash, most of the lyrics of which are slogans, both left- and right-wing, commonly printed on stickers.