An Arab woman arrested recently after footage of her and a relative slapping, kicking, and harassing IDF soldiers went viral has been indicted on assault charges.
Earlier this month, Nour Tamimi and her cousin, Ahed Tamimi, were filmed harassing IDF soldiers stationed in the village of Nabi Salih, near the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Ramallah.
The soldiers had been deployed to Nabi Salih to contain violent riots in the area.
Footage of the incident December 15th incident, which quickly went viral, provoked an angry backlash among many Israeli social media users. Right-wing activists claimed the incident highlighted the plight of many IDF soldiers, who are constrained by restrictive use-of-force regulations and are often confronted by far-left or Arab activists seeking to provoke the soldiers and film their reactions.
Some commentators noted that the Tamimi family has a long history of such actions against Israeli security forces.
"We value the restraint of the soldiers, but this, too, has a limit," said an IDF Brigadier General (Res.) "It's good to remain calm, cool, and collected - but there's also a need to identify the point at which things have gone too far. Pepper spray the attacker’s face, force him to the ground, cuff him and arrest him."
Ahed Tamimi claimed that she assaulted the soldier because he had shot her cousin with a rubber bullet. "I saw the same soldiers who hit my cousin, this time in front of my house. I could not keep quiet and I responded as I did," Tamimi told the court.
On December 19th, the IDF arrested 16-year-old Ahed Tamimi during a raid of her family’s house in Nabi Salih.
Israeli authorities later arrested Nour Tamimi, 21, and Ahed’s mother, Nariman Tamimi.
On Sunday, the Ofer Military Court northwest of Jerusalem handed down an indictment against Nour Tamimi, charging her with aggravated assault and interfering with an IDF operation.
Last week, prosecutors said they intended to charge all three of the Tamimis with assault charges, along with other charges including incitement to violence.