Three Years Later: Border Police Officer Convicted of Pulling Settler’s Peyos

An Israeli Border Police officer has been found guilty by a police disciplinary tribunal for violently pulling a settler’s peyos during the evacuation of the Oz Zion outpost in the Binyamin region, an event that occurred around three years ago.

The altercation broke out when Border Police forces arrived at the site and delivered a military order declaring the area a restricted zone. In defiance, one of the settlers tore up the order in front of the officers. At that point, one officer rushed toward him, seizing the settler’s beard and peyos and yanking them forcefully.

Following the confrontation, the settler filed an official complaint with the Police Investigations Department, represented by Attorney Eladi Weizel of the Honenu legal aid organization. The complaint demanded that the officer be prosecuted and removed from his position.

In its ruling, the tribunal noted that the officer failed to disclose his use of force in his initial statement. It was only after video evidence of the incident became public and an official complaint was submitted that he drafted a memorandum about what happened — but he left the document in his office and never submitted it to the relevant authorities. Due to this misconduct, the tribunal convicted him.

Attorney Weizel expressed approval of the decision, saying: “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.”

{Matzav.com Israel}