A Border Police officer has been convicted by a police disciplinary tribunal for forcibly pulling a settler's sidelocks during the demolition of the Oz Zion homestead in the Binyamin region, an incident that took place approximately three years ago.
The confrontation began when a Border Police unit arrived at the homestead and presented residents with a military order declaring the area a closed zone. In response, one settler tore up the order in front of the officers. One officer lunged at the settler, grabbing and forcefully pulling his beard and sidelocks.
Following the incident, the settler filed an official complaint with the Police Investigations Department, represented by Attorney Eladi Weizel from the Honenu legal aid organization. The complaint called for the officer to be prosecuted and removed from duty.
According to the tribunal’s ruling, the officer failed to report the use of violence in his initial account of the incident. Only after video footage of the altercation surfaced and a formal complaint was lodged did he write a memorandum — but he left it in his office and did not submit it to the appropriate authorities. Based on this misconduct, the tribunal found him guilty.
Attorney Weizel welcomed the conviction, stating: “We are satisfied with the ruling against the violent officer and call on the Israel Police to take immediate action to address the growing issue of police aggression toward settlers. The officer’s actions — humiliating and painful — reflected a troubling disregard for human dignity. Shockingly, on the same hill, three years later, another officer shot a minor in the back with live ammunition. That incident narrowly avoided becoming fatal but resulted in serious injury. It is time to stop this pattern of police brutality before it leads to further tragedies.”