Judge Nava Bechor has ordered 18-year-old Yesha resident Tzvia Sariel to remain in jail without any formal charges being placed against her. Two witnesses testified at a hearing that she did not attack Arabs at her community of Elon Moreh in December. Shmuel Meidad, a lawyer for the legal aid group Honenu, charged that Judge Bechor kept the girl in jail because "she refuses to recognize the authority of the court."
She refused to identify herself after being charged with allegedly pushing Arabs who entered their community to pick olives. However, two Arab witnesses testified she was not the girl who assaulted the men. "I am surprised that the girl who made all the problems is not here," said witness Abdel Karim Hussein. He added that Tzvia yelled at him but did not push him.
Another witness, 81-year-old Abdel Baki Shahada Amar, said he signed a statement handed him by police but which he did not understand because he barely can read. Judge Bechor declared him to be a "hostile witness" because his testimony differed from the written statement.