For links to additional items about the brutal attack and Honenu’s representation of the heroic Ariel resident who was detained when he reported to the Ariel Police Station to give testimony and file a complaint against the Arabs who threatened his life and that of the children who were with him, please click here.
Signs from a protest in support of the detained resident (6/2022): “Arrest Arab Rioters”, “Stop the Torture”; Free use
Tuesday, April 22, 2025, 15:21 Recordings were recently revealed in which the head of the Jewish Department of the GSS admitted his opinion of Jewish Yehuda and Shomron residents. In light of the revelation, Honenu publicized the testimony of a Shomron resident who was detained by the GSS three years ago after defending a group of boys from a mob of rioting Arabs. The resident was held under harsh conditions for two weeks, while banned from meeting with an attorney. The investigative case against the resident was closed after several months due to lack of guilt.
The resident described in his testimony how he, the only adult on an educational hike with a group of boys, was trapped with them when dozens of rioting Arabs attacked: “I went out with a few boys aged 11-12 on a hike just outside of Ariel. At some point, 40 Arabs armed with clubs and iron bars emerged opposite us. I confronted one of the Arabs, and during the clash he fell to the ground. I defended a group of terrified children until the security forces arrived.”
The resident described in detail his violent and humiliating interrogation at the hands of the GSS: “The day after the incident, I was summoned to the Ariel Police Station, where I was interrogated by an officer, and then GSS agents entered the room and took me to their facility. At the GSS facility, I underwent humiliating interrogations for 24 hours without a break. I physically collapsed. I felt intense pressure in my chest and asked to see a doctor. In response, the interrogators scoffed at me and claimed that I was lying. That was when I could barely sit on the chair. Afterward, they took me to a doctor. They sat me on a chair and applied pressure on various places on my body. I screamed in pain. Then a huge guy entered and pulled me like a beast on the floor. My pants fell and my penis was dragged on the floor. Then he pressed three times on my stomach, which caused me to defecate on myself. I was thrown into a stinking cell underground, without windows, and I fainted.”
The resident further described the lasting emotional damage: “The physical pain did not hurt as much as the humiliation. They took a Jew who had defended himself in a brutal attack and instead of protecting him, they humiliated and hurt him. This is the GSS that is supposed to protect me. They do whatever they want. They can crush you. They can do it to anyone. Since the GSS interrogation, I’ve experienced emotional upheaval. I dream about it at night. It was hard for me to return to work. My mind returns there all the time. There is the ‘me’ of before the interrogation, and the ‘me’ of afterward. I am not the same person I used to be.”
Testimony from the resident who defended the children (Hebrew with Hebrew subtitles); Video credit: Honenu
In the coming days, Honenu will reveal more testimonies demonstrating the persecution of Yehuda and Shomron residents by the Jewish Department of the GSS. Honenu issued a statement: “The resident’s testimony is a drop in the sea. The recordings of the head of the Jewish Department of the GSS that were recently leaked reveal the ruah hamefaked (tone set by a commander) in that department. The department detains Jews without evidence. Their criminal conduct is unrestrained. We will use all legal means in both criminal and civil proceedings to achieve the dismissal of the head of the Jewish Department of the GSS. We call for the reopening of all the cases in which the Jewish Department of the GSS carried out criminal actions, including cases such as that of Amiram Ben Uliel.”