Otzma Yehudit party director-general Itiel Neiman was questioned on Sunday by the National Fraud Investigation Unit of Lahav 433 on suspicion of involvement in an assault on police officers during a violent confrontation several weeks ago in Mitzpe Yericho.
According to a police statement, Neiman was questioned on suspicion of extortion through threats, assaulting and obstructing a police officer, and obstructing an investigation.
Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer was previously questioned in the same case on suspicion of taking part in the violent incident involving police officers.
Investigators suspect that several people confronted police officers and blocked a police vehicle during the incident, allowing a suspect to flee the scene. Two officers were injured.
The incident was recorded by one officer's body camera, and the footage is among the evidence collected in the investigation.
The incident took place at the end of a memorial ceremony for fallen IDF soldiers in Mitzpe Yericho. According to Kroizer's account, he approached in an attempt to defuse a confrontation between police officers and bereaved families, and the officers used unreasonable force against him, beating him, throwing him to the ground, and pepper-spraying him.
Otzma Yehudit said, "The attorney general's political persecution of Otzma Yehudit crosses every red line today with the summoning of the party's director-general, Itiel Neiman, for questioning".
The party charged, "After the attempt to intimidate MK Yitzhak Kroizer, who was prevented from filing a complaint with the Police Internal Investigations Department for more than a week after leaving a memorial ceremony for a childhood friend killed in battle with a broken rib, the law enforcement system is now targeting the party's leadership in a transparent attempt to harm Otzma Yehudit by any means".
The party added, "The selective enforcement is glaring: While cases against left-wing activists and opposition lawmakers such as Gilad Kariv and Naama Lazimi are dragged out and allowed to fizzle, when it comes to Otzma Yehudit members, the system operates with record efficiency and churns out investigations at a dizzying pace".