Kiryat Arba resident escapes lynch, finds himself in police investigation

Tuesday, September 27 13:54 A Kiryat Arba resident escaped a lynch and ended up in a police investigation. On Friday, after Asher and Yonatan Palmer, hy”d, were murdered, a couple very close to the Palmers left Kiryat Arba to inform Asher’s widow, Pu’ah, who was in Jerusalem at the time, of what had happened.
The husband, “S”, is the brother-in-law of IDF soldier Eliraz Peretz, hy”d, who was killed in Gaza.
On the return drive, on the road between Gush Etzion and Kiryat Arba, Arabs came out into the road and threw rocks at their car. “S”, who served in an elite commando unit (Sayeret Matkal) and was an instructor in a counter terrorism unit, felt that there was a danger to his life and that of his wife and fired a shot into the air, which drove away the rock throwers. The rocks caused slight damage to the vehicle.
“S” reported the incident to the area security headquarters and arrived home shortly before the beginning of Shabbat.
After Shabbat had already begun four police cars arrived at “S”’s home. The policemen demanded clarifying details of the incident and asked “S” why he fired his weapon. “S” explained that his life and that of his wife was in danger when the group of rioting Arabs surrounded his vehicle. The policemen told “S” that they wouldn’t bring him in because of Shabbat, but informed him that after Shabbat he must report for interrogation at the Hevron police station.
After Shabbat “S” contacted Honenu and received an initial briefing from Honenu attorney Adi Kedar. “S” arrived at the police station, where he was interrogated, warned and unconditionally released. The following day (Sunday) the police interrogators summoned also “S”’s wife for interrogation.
Honenu, which is handling the incident, reports in response that “Unfortunately incidents such as this, in which Jews encounter life threatening situations, act in self defense and find themselves under police investigation, and sometimes even imprisoned, reach our attention time and time again. It seems that despite the painful reminder that we received on Friday, which teaches us what the consequences of Arabs in Yehuda and Shomron throwing rocks are, the police and the State Attorney’s office are not internalizing the danger posed to Jewish lives and continue to attempt to prevent Jews from defending themselves.”
MK Ya’akov Katz (Katzele) said in response that the incident of “investigating the righteous is continuing the policy held by the heads of security in Israel who abuse four hundred thousand residents of Yehuda and Shomron with persecution and attempt to limit their advancement. But as the Sages have taught us, ‘The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied’. The people of Israel needs a different government that will rule with a different defense policy, and not the defense system that has set as its goal oppressing the Jewish people in Israel.”
MK Michael Ben-Ari said that “There are forces in the Israeli Police who reason that they have become an arm of the Palestinian Police. A Jew who defends his life and that of his wife should receive a medal, not a police investigation with a warning. It is only a shame that he did not kill the rock throwers. We were taught the painful way by the infant Yonatan Palmer and his father Asher, hy”d, that a rock can murder.”