A third suspect has been arrested for allegedly abusing a special-needs haredi man at a supermarket south of Jerusalem.

On Tuesday night, police arrested the third suspect, an Arab resident of eastern Jerusalem, for allegedly abusing Y., a young haredi man with special needs who is employed at a branch of the Shufersal supermarket chain in Gush Etzion.

A total of three suspects - two Palestinian Authority residents and now a Jerusalem resident - were employed at the Shufersal store in question.

All three of the Arab men suspected of abuse have now been fired from the store.

The third suspect was scheduled to be brought before the Jerusalem Magistrate Court Wednesday for an extension of his arrest.

A fourth suspect, a Jewish man from the Israeli town of Efrat in Gush Etzion who managed the storage area at the Shufersal in question, was also arrested this week in connection with the investigation, but is not suspected of having taken part in the abuse itself.

The two PA residents are suspected of abuse, while the Efrat resident allegedly was aware of the abuse and allowed it to continue.

All four of the suspects worked at the Shufersal store with the victim, where the abuse took place.
A recently-released video went viral, showing one of the employees humiliating the young haredi man, tying him up in saran wrap, and slapping him on the neck and face.

One of the Arab employees involved in the incident later claimed that the video was taken out of context, and that he is friends with the young haredi man, and that the behavior caught on film was intended as a joke.

“We're friends, we've been working at the store for five years. It's not like you said, that I hit him - G-d forbid."

"They thought I did it on purpose but there are cameras all over the store - why would I hit him if there are cameras in the store? I apologize for what happened."

But attorney and Otzma Yehudit candidate Itamar Ben-Gvir, who representing the victim, says additional videos of other instances involving the Arab workers with his client prove the behavior was abusive, and not a joke, as claimed by the suspects.

“There are nationalistic motives in this case. There are various severe comments by the suspects against the people of Israel, against the Jewish people, mocking the Jewish people,” Ben-Gvir told Channel 12.

A total of five videos of abuse have thus far been discovered, police say, showing the Arab workers slapping the victim, using vulgar and abusive language towards him, and mocking his disability.

On Sunday, the young haredi man, accompanied by his parents and attorney Ben-Gvir, filed a complaint with police, prompting the arrests.