The attorney's department on Thursday submitted to the Be'er Sheva Magistrate's Court a monetary claim for 624,417 shekels (over $160,000) against Niv Assaraf and Eran Nagauker, due to the financial losses they caused by staging Assaraf's abduction.
The fake kidnapping in April was reported by Nagauker, claiming Assaraf had entered the hostile Arab village of Beit Anoun near Hevron to get spare parts due to a flat tire. The call prompted a mass IDF search that cost hundreds of thousands of shekels; Assaraf was later found alive and safe, hiding in a ditch.
According to the lawsuit, Assaraf and Nagauker planned the staged abduction down to the last detail, and over the course of eight hours until the incident was cleared up they led the police, the IDF and the entire public astray.
Due to the false report of the "abduction," an emergency situation was declared over the concerns that Assaraf's life was in danger.
Roughly 1,000 soldiers were called up to the area, including special units, aircraft and more, and a search was conducted in the villages adjacent to the site while limiting the traffic of the residents on local roads.
In several instances, Arab terrorists hurled rocks at the IDF forces who were searching for Assaraf.
The indictment against the two from April details how they drove to Kiryat Arba adjacent to Hevron, and on the way Assaraf said he wanted to "disappear" to make his ex-girlfriend who he just broke up with worry about him.
After arriving Assaraf took up a hiding spot near the entrance to the town with a sleeping bag and canned food, while Nagauker drove on the highway a short distance before faking a puncture and alerting the police.
The suit Thursday stressed the severe nature of the crime by which they placed security forces in danger for an extended period of time, noting that aside from the financial damage they distracted the security forces and thereby placed the public in danger by limiting manpower.
It noted that the lawsuit of 624,417 shekels does not cover all of the expenses incurred by the state as a result of their behavior.