The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday informed Knesset member Ofer Cassif (Hadash-Ta’al) that the attorney general is considering, subject to a hearing, prosecuting him for assaulting a police officer.
The decision stems from a May 2002 incident in which Cassif is alleged to have struck a police officer in the head after being prevented from participating in a demonstration against a Supreme Court ruling ordering the evacuation of villages on Mount Hebron.
Security forces preparing for the evacuation had restricted the flow of traffic and declared various locations in the area closed military zones. Nevertheless, a demonstration took place, during which a Border Police officer told Cassif that he could not access it with his vehicle. Cassif allegedly got into an argument with the officer before driving slowly towards him and hitting his leg. In response, the officer allegedly struck the hood of the vehicle and shouted at Cassif, who then allegedly got out of the car and struck the officer.
Following an investigation, the Israel Police recommended to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara that Cassif be prosecuted.
Cassif caused a firestorm in November by declaring that Aryeh Shchupak, 16, was a “victim of the occupation” after being murdered in the terrorist bombings in Jerusalem earlier in the day. Earlier that month, Cassif asserted that Jews living in Judea and Samaria were liable for Palestinian attacks against them as they are not innocent civilians. “They live as a thorn in the throats of the Palestinians,” he said, adding that Palestinian attacks were “not terror.”
