Yehonatan Geffen
Yehonatan GeffenFlash 90

Police on Monday evening arrested a resident of the Bikat Ono region in central Israel on suspicion of attacking author and songwriter Yehonatan Geffen outside his home ten days ago.

No further details were provided about the suspect, who was taken in for questioning.

The attack on Geffen took place outside his home, near Netanya, on March 20. The assailant arrived at Geffen’s home, knocked on the door and when he opened it, hit him in the face, shouted "leftist, traitor" and threw eggs at him.

The exact motives for the assault are unclear, but Geffen, who is identified with the left, had several days earlier reacted to the Likud’s landslide victory in the elections by saying that "March 17 will be declared the Nakba of the peace camp.”

“The people once again elected a racist man who said that the Arabs are flocking in large amounts to the polls. All those who voted for Bibi, do not cry when your children will die in the next stupid operation," Geffen had said, though it is yet to be determined whether these comments are related to the assault on him.

Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett condemned the attack on Geffen and wrote, "The assault on Yehonatan Geffen is a barbaric and cowardly act. You respond to a man of speech and pen with a speech and pen, not with your hands.”

Geffen’s son is rock musician Aviv Geffen, who before the elections called to called to send Netanyahu "to hell" while an image of Netanyahu, Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Liberman, with a large red "X" crossing them all out, appeared on the screen behind him.

Aviv Geffen’s remarks were condemned by Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, who said, "A man who shirked the IDF, who incites against the prime minister when he and his family contributed much to the security of the state - and the leftist leaders Tzipi (Livni) and Buji (Yitzhak Herzog) don't denounce and don't say a word. Simply an embarrassment!"