Eli Ohayon
Eli OhayonEli Ohayon

Police have arrested a suspect in the brutal beating of Eli Ohayon, 63, a resident of Tel Aviv, on Memorial Day.

The assault took place at the Shuk Hacarmel market in Tel Aviv. It was described on Facebook by Ohayon's son, Kfir.

“Today, my father was attacked by a terrorist who shouted 'Allau akbar' at Shuk Hacarmel in Tel Aviv,” he wrote Tuesday. “This morning, at around 6:30, my father drove on a scooter to his place of work in Tel Aviv. On the road that crosses Shuk Hacarmel, he noticed the suspect dragging a cart. When he crossed his path, [the suspect] tried to ram the wheels of the scooter with the cart. My father stopped the scooter and asked him why he was doing this. He did not curse, did not attack, and did not approach him with any kind of violence.

"In response, the suspect pounced on him with cries of 'Allahu akbar' and a look of hatred in his eyes. Before he could respond, he caught my father and slammed him into the ground.

"The scooter fell and caught my father's leg beneath it. He started hitting my father and kicking him in the face and other parts of the body while muttering words in Arabic. Many of his friends stood around and watched without lifting a finger.

"At a certain point, my father pulled out his cellphone, and then the attackers' friends helped him escape through the market's alleyways.”

Kfir then went on to describe what sounds like severe police indifference and negligence in responding to the attack. The bleeding Eli Ohayon called police and asked for an ambulance to be sent along with a police car. Fifteen minutes passed and the police did not come. The battered Ohayon called again, and was told to come to the station himself. He had to plead again and again until the police relented and sent a policeman to the location of the attack.

The policeman came and went, writes Kfir, “and while my father waited for the ambulance, the attackers' friends told him to leave the location... and that the police do not care about him. After 20 long minutes, an ambulance came and gave him initial care.”

Police indifference continued after Eli Ohayon received treatment in the hospital and went to the police station to file a complaint. Again, he was given the go-around and told to come back another day. According to his son, a high ranking police officer eventually admitted that the police had not done their job properly.

On Wednesday evening, Kfir updated his post and said that the suspect had bee arrested and will be arraigned Sunday morning.

Ohayon in sad 'selfie.' Eli Ohayon