Internal Security Minister Amir Ohana this evening visited the elderly Yosef Fleishman, who was hospitalized at Shaare Zedek Hospital after being abandoned in the middle of the night on the street by Israeli police officers.
The Minister was accompanied by his haredi society affairs team head Superintendent (retired) Arik Yekuel.
"I expressed to Yosef my deep sorrow at what had happened. I sent him on behalf of many citizens who appealed to me a strengthening embrace and good health wishes. The Israel Police will investigate the incident and draw lessons from it to reduce the recurrence of such cases," said Minister Ohana.
The Jerusalem District Commander informed Deputy Minister Meir Porush that he had appointed an officer to investigate the incident.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, police raided Fleischman's house in the Beit Israel neighborhood of Jerusalem and arrested him. Apparently it was a case of mistaken identity and after a few hours he was released into the cold Jerusalem night, far from his home, without being given any means of transportation.
He was declared missing and only after 15 hours was he found lying in the woods and was rushed to the hospital suffering from hypothermia.
The Israel Police said, "Following a complaint received by the police about threats, the police officers arrived at the address given to them by the complainant. There they met a person who refused to identify himself as required, so he had to be detained and refused to cooperate.
"After identification operations carried out at the police station, it became clear that this was not the suspect wanted for investigation for threats, so the man was released immediately. Later in the day, a report was received that the man was missing and the police began carrying out a variety of operations until he was located. In addition to the aforesaid, we intend to investigate the case and, if necessary, the necessary lessons will be learned accordingly."