Ofer Cassif
Ofer CassifDanny Shem Tov/Knesset spokesperson

The Jerusalem District Attorney's Office on Wednesday informed the attorney of MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash-Ta’al) that the Attorney General is considering prosecuting him over aggravated assault of a police officer, subject to a hearing being held for him.

The decision was made on the opinion of the State Attorney, Amit Eisman.

The suspicions relate to the conduct of MK Cassif during a demonstration that took place in May 2022 in protest of a Supreme Court ruling that ordered the evacuation of villages on Mount Hebron.

As part of the preparation of the security forces for the evacuation, they were ordered to restrict bus traffic and declared various locations in the area as closed military zones. Despite this, there was a demonstration in the area, during which a Border Police officer informed MK Cassif that he could not enter the area with his vehicle and join a crowd of demonstrators who were standing a short distance from him.

Despite what was said to him, the Knesset member asked to enter the demonstration area with his vehicle and an argument developed between him and the police officers, at the end of which Cassif got into his vehicle and started driving slowly until he hit the leg of a police officer who was blocking his path.

In response, the officer hit the hood of the vehicle and shouted at MK Cassif, who is suspected of getting out of his vehicle at that point and hitting the officer in the head.

This past October, the Israel Police completed their investigation into the incident and recommended to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara that Cassif be prosecuted on charges of assaulting an officer.