Tzvi Horowitz, 28, is the second of four children of Rabbi Eli and Dina Horowitz (pictured above), who were gunned down in their own home in Kiryat Arba by Palestinian terrorists in March 2003. The murderers, dressed as religious Jews, entered the couple's home during the Friday night Sabbath meal and opened fire, killing the couple and wounding five others.
Tzvi is currently under police investigation. He told the story to Arutz-7's Yosef Meiri today:
"It all started when Noam Livnat, whom I didn't know before, asked me to build a website for his campaign against the disengagement. The cause appeared to be a good one, and also I haven’t had much work since my parents were killed, and so I agreed. One day I heard that an investigation had been opened against Noam Livnat for incitement to refusal of army orders, so I checked the site to see if there was anything incriminating there. I saw that there was an option to sign up soldiers for refusal. In such a situation, I would have called my father for advice – but he was murdered, and so I called his rabbis to see what he would have said I should do. They said that they didn't think refusal was the right option, but that on the other hand, it was already done and I had a financial obligation to Noam. So I made sure that my name was not there; I had nothing to do with it anyway - I was merely hired to build a website...
"About three weeks ago, the police left a summons in my house for me to arrive for questioning; I wasn't home at the time. A few days later, they arrived at my house, and told me to come with them right away. I said no, and they then threatened very roughly that if I didn't come the next day, I would be put under arrest. In the meantime, my father's rabbis arranged a top lawyer for me – though I still am not sure where the money will come from - and he accompanied me to an interrogation that lasted for five full hours. However, the police refused to allow him into the room. They questioned me under caution, and finally dropped the boom. For building a website, they told me that I was suspected of five crimes: incitement to army evasion, incitement to army disobedience, destroying evidence, interfering with police work, and – an attempt to destroy the IDF. No less.
"They scared me very much, and they saw how difficult it was for me – yet they insisted I sign the statement. I told them that they see I am not at all involved in this story, and that I have no interest in it, and how hard it is for me emotionally, but it didn't move them... I didn't sign."
"Two days ago, after not having heard from them since then, I was working at home on my computer when I heard a harsh knocking on the door. I was alone with my baby daughter, and it was frightening; the caravan in which I live, in Karmei Tzur [south of Gush Etzion], had bullet holes from a terror attack here in which another couple, Eyal and Yael Sorek [and Shalom Mordechai] were killed in their home in the same way – a terrorist knocked on the door and then burst in and shot them. So I feared that this might be a repeat. I called loudly, twice or three times, 'Who's there?' and received no answer. Just as my fears were growing and I was considering going for my gun, the police burst in the door. I yelled at them, 'Why didn't you identify yourselves?' They didn't apologize, but rather said that they have a search warrant, and proceeded to coldly search every corner of the little caravan. They shook matchboxes, looked under cups, and of course, took my computer. I told them that I had served in the army, that I had given the country everything I had, including my parents, and what more do you want from me? Instead of showing any sensitivity at all to my situation – and they saw how hard I was taking it – the investigator, the one who interrogated me before, said, 'We could have treated you much worse if we wanted to.' I said, 'This is how you 'comfort' me? I was responsible for Arab terrorist prisoners in the army, and I acted towards them with more sensitivity than you're acting towards me!' They saw the picture of my parents in front of them the whole time, and they know that they burst in the same way in which my parents were killed, and yet it didn't bother them...
"Yesterday, after they took my computer, they called me and said they had copied my whole hard drive and that I could come and get it. I expressed my fear of coming, and they said, 'Don't worry, we won't arrest you – just come and sign.' When I arrived, the policeman asked me what computer program I had used to build the site. I couldn't imagine why he was asking, after he had just copied my whole drive, and my lawyer had advised me not to say anything, and so I didn't answer. He said, 'Fine, if that's how you want it' – and then went to the court with a request to keep my computer for another ten days. His excuse was that the fonts didn't look righ... The judge said that he couldn't understand why that would require ten days - but after he saw that I was suspected of trying to destroy the army and all that, he said the police could keep my computer until Sunday.
"I told them that I wouldn't be coming to get it; if they want, they could bring it to me. I've had enough of their treating me as if I'm an enemy, instead of someone who has lost his parents in a terror attack. I'm not built for this type of thing; maybe Noam Livnat can take it, but I can't."
In contrast, Noam Livnat - one of the organizers of the campaign to sign soldiers on a petition to refuse expulsion orders - told Israel Television today that he was interrogated "for maybe two hours, about a month ago, and that was it. After all, there's nothing more legal or Zionist than what I'm doing: organizing people to say that they won't carry out illegal orders."
Tzvi concluded, "What I would like to get across is that the police must be more sensitive. Their attitude is degrading and dehumanizing. They must take into account the people with whom they're dealing and their situations."
As an aside, Tzvi noted that while he is under suspicion of encouraging refusal to fulfill orders, Attorney-General Mazuz himself could be accused of the same crime. He noted that on May 10 of last year, Mazuz spoke at a lawyers' conference about left-wing refusal to serve in the army. "I have understanding," Mazuz said, "for the phenomenon of young people fighting for beliefs. In and of itself it could be, on the face of it, a positive phenomenon that shows social involvement and concern... however, it has to be considered in the broad view." He also expressed tolerance for those who incite others not to serve in the army, as long as such incitement does not take on a "racist character."
Tzvi is currently under police investigation. He told the story to Arutz-7's Yosef Meiri today:
"It all started when Noam Livnat, whom I didn't know before, asked me to build a website for his campaign against the disengagement. The cause appeared to be a good one, and also I haven’t had much work since my parents were killed, and so I agreed. One day I heard that an investigation had been opened against Noam Livnat for incitement to refusal of army orders, so I checked the site to see if there was anything incriminating there. I saw that there was an option to sign up soldiers for refusal. In such a situation, I would have called my father for advice – but he was murdered, and so I called his rabbis to see what he would have said I should do. They said that they didn't think refusal was the right option, but that on the other hand, it was already done and I had a financial obligation to Noam. So I made sure that my name was not there; I had nothing to do with it anyway - I was merely hired to build a website...
"About three weeks ago, the police left a summons in my house for me to arrive for questioning; I wasn't home at the time. A few days later, they arrived at my house, and told me to come with them right away. I said no, and they then threatened very roughly that if I didn't come the next day, I would be put under arrest. In the meantime, my father's rabbis arranged a top lawyer for me – though I still am not sure where the money will come from - and he accompanied me to an interrogation that lasted for five full hours. However, the police refused to allow him into the room. They questioned me under caution, and finally dropped the boom. For building a website, they told me that I was suspected of five crimes: incitement to army evasion, incitement to army disobedience, destroying evidence, interfering with police work, and – an attempt to destroy the IDF. No less.
"They scared me very much, and they saw how difficult it was for me – yet they insisted I sign the statement. I told them that they see I am not at all involved in this story, and that I have no interest in it, and how hard it is for me emotionally, but it didn't move them... I didn't sign."
"Two days ago, after not having heard from them since then, I was working at home on my computer when I heard a harsh knocking on the door. I was alone with my baby daughter, and it was frightening; the caravan in which I live, in Karmei Tzur [south of Gush Etzion], had bullet holes from a terror attack here in which another couple, Eyal and Yael Sorek [and Shalom Mordechai] were killed in their home in the same way – a terrorist knocked on the door and then burst in and shot them. So I feared that this might be a repeat. I called loudly, twice or three times, 'Who's there?' and received no answer. Just as my fears were growing and I was considering going for my gun, the police burst in the door. I yelled at them, 'Why didn't you identify yourselves?' They didn't apologize, but rather said that they have a search warrant, and proceeded to coldly search every corner of the little caravan. They shook matchboxes, looked under cups, and of course, took my computer. I told them that I had served in the army, that I had given the country everything I had, including my parents, and what more do you want from me? Instead of showing any sensitivity at all to my situation – and they saw how hard I was taking it – the investigator, the one who interrogated me before, said, 'We could have treated you much worse if we wanted to.' I said, 'This is how you 'comfort' me? I was responsible for Arab terrorist prisoners in the army, and I acted towards them with more sensitivity than you're acting towards me!' They saw the picture of my parents in front of them the whole time, and they know that they burst in the same way in which my parents were killed, and yet it didn't bother them...
"Yesterday, after they took my computer, they called me and said they had copied my whole hard drive and that I could come and get it. I expressed my fear of coming, and they said, 'Don't worry, we won't arrest you – just come and sign.' When I arrived, the policeman asked me what computer program I had used to build the site. I couldn't imagine why he was asking, after he had just copied my whole drive, and my lawyer had advised me not to say anything, and so I didn't answer. He said, 'Fine, if that's how you want it' – and then went to the court with a request to keep my computer for another ten days. His excuse was that the fonts didn't look righ... The judge said that he couldn't understand why that would require ten days - but after he saw that I was suspected of trying to destroy the army and all that, he said the police could keep my computer until Sunday.
"I told them that I wouldn't be coming to get it; if they want, they could bring it to me. I've had enough of their treating me as if I'm an enemy, instead of someone who has lost his parents in a terror attack. I'm not built for this type of thing; maybe Noam Livnat can take it, but I can't."
In contrast, Noam Livnat - one of the organizers of the campaign to sign soldiers on a petition to refuse expulsion orders - told Israel Television today that he was interrogated "for maybe two hours, about a month ago, and that was it. After all, there's nothing more legal or Zionist than what I'm doing: organizing people to say that they won't carry out illegal orders."
Tzvi concluded, "What I would like to get across is that the police must be more sensitive. Their attitude is degrading and dehumanizing. They must take into account the people with whom they're dealing and their situations."
As an aside, Tzvi noted that while he is under suspicion of encouraging refusal to fulfill orders, Attorney-General Mazuz himself could be accused of the same crime. He noted that on May 10 of last year, Mazuz spoke at a lawyers' conference about left-wing refusal to serve in the army. "I have understanding," Mazuz said, "for the phenomenon of young people fighting for beliefs. In and of itself it could be, on the face of it, a positive phenomenon that shows social involvement and concern... however, it has to be considered in the broad view." He also expressed tolerance for those who incite others not to serve in the army, as long as such incitement does not take on a "racist character."