In a seemingly unprecedented show of leniency toward suspects in a nationalistic group-beating murder of a Jewish man, a Tel Aviv court released on Sunday one of the seven Arab men suspected of taking part in the murder before the victim's family has even completed the shiva (seven day mourning period) over the deceased.
Leonard (Arik) Karp, 59, went for a stroll on the beach with his wife and daughter on the night of August 16 when they were accosted by a gang of seven intoxicated Arabs and their two Russian girlfriends. The Arabs assaulted Karp's wife and daughter, breaking his wife's arm before the two women were able to flee further attack. When Karp attempted to defend them, the Arabs beat him to death. His body was found floating in the water nearby.
The police asked Judge Dalia Ravid of the Tel Aviv Magistrates' Court to release the suspect to ten days' home arrest in his home village of Jaljulia. Police said that its investigation of the matter of the suspect had ended. Strangely, police continued to insist that the man is still a murder suspect.
Two young Russian women aged 17 and 19 who had been partying with the Arabs and who were present during the murder were released less than 48 hours after the murder – despite being suspected of helping their friends to cover up their involvement in the murder.
The release of the Arab suspect was played down in the media and the suspect's identity has not been revealed due to a court gag order, supposedly granted in order to facilitate an identification line-up. He is aged 19.
The courts and media appear to be doing their best to play down the seriousness of the crime, which has the potential of sparking large-scale anti-Arab sentiment. Some of the media reports in the days since the murder have focused on the suspects' families and their feelings.
In addition, police and the media began suggesting Sunday that the Arab gang did not actually beat Karp to death but that he died of drowning.
Channel 2 news reported that police investigators told the Minister of Internal Security and the Commissioner of Police that Arik Karp may have escaped his attackers after they beat him. Karp may have tried to go around a rock barrier near the sea and then lost consciousness and drowned, the report suggested. Another idea that was reported by Channel 2 is that Karp may have "reached the beach on his own, and when he tried to wash his face, collapsed and drowned in the sea water."
The autopsy conducted on Karp determined that his skull was fractured and that he did not die of drowning (his lungs did not contain water). However, the court, police and media appear determined to suggest that the Arabs did not kill Karp.
The central suspect in Karp's murder is reportedly aged 17. The police intend to charge him with murder in the coming days.