Jewish Extremist Arrested in Attack on Rabbi in West Bank

Image by Rabbis for Human Rights

Israel Police have arrested a Jewish man accused of assaulting a leader of the Rabbis for Human Rights organization.

Police on Sunday arrested the man who last month threatened Rabbi Arik Ascherman with a knife while he was helping Palestinians harvest olives near the settlement of Itamar, not far from the West Bank city of Nablus, Haaretz reported.

The incident was caught on video.

In a statement released on the Rabbis for Human Rights Hebrew-language website after the arrest, Ascherman thanked police for apprehending the suspect, adding that the arrest proves that the police can arrest right-wing attackers of Palestinians when they try.

“Even when suspects are arrested for attacking Palestinians, there are very few convictions,” Ascherman said in the statement, citing statistics from the human rights organization Yesh Din. “We hope that the truth will be found out quickly in court and in the interrogation room – while preserving the rights of the suspect – and that the suspect will be severely punished if he is found guilty.”