Joint List MK to be questioned on Sunday over attack on police officer
Police to question MK Ofer Cassif after he was documented beating a Border Police officer earlier this year.
MK Ofer Cassif (Joint List) will be questioned this coming Sunday at the offices of the Lahav 433 unit of the Israel Police, after he was documented beating a Border Police officer earlier this year.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara earlier this week authorized the police to investigate Cassif under warning and he was then summoned for questioning.
This past May, Cassif was filmed striking an Israeli police officer who was blocking him from driving to a demonstration against the evacuation of buildings on Mount Hebron.
Cassif hit an officer in the head after his car was stopped by the police while he was on his way to the protest against buildings built illegally in a fire area in Safar Yatta in the southern Hebron Mountains.
Cassif took advantage of his political immunity and entered the area with his vehicle even though it was declared a closed military area.
The MK later commented on the incident in an interview with Channel 13 News and said that he did not hit or attack the policeman but was rather defending himself, though he added that he was sorry if he hurt him. Cassif added that if it is decided to interrogate him - he will waive his parliamentary immunity.
"The only thing I did was to instinctively repel the hand that was sent in front of me," Cassif said. "It is possible that I hit him in the head along the way, and for that I am sorry, but it was neither a beating nor an assault. I will not take advantage of my immunity. Should it be decided to question me or open a case and prosecute me, I will not use my immunity because I know that justice is on my side and I will make my case during an interrogation or in court if it gets there."
The chairman of Otzma Yehudit, MK Itamar Ben Gvir, said in response to the Attorney General’s approval to question Cassif, "Ofer Cassif should have been arrested and questioned a long time ago, and I hope he will be prosecuted immediately. A member of the Knesset who violently attacks police officers should not be in the Knesset for one more day, and I hope that this time the Supreme Court will disqualify Cassif, the supporter of terrorism, from running for the Knesset."