Israeli police raid anti-crime Arab activist’s home, detain her over Palestinian flags
The woman’s home after the police search, 28 December 2025
Josh Breiner reports in Haaretz on 30 December 2025:
A 60-year-old woman was detained for questioning by Israel Police in her home in northern Israel on Sunday after detectives found two Palestinian flags and magnets of the flag on her refrigerator.
Northern District police officers raided her home under a search warrant issued by a magistrate’s court judge, citing unspecified intelligence. The warrant was issued in early December because of “reasonable suspicion of firearms and weapons possession.” Her colleague said that one of the officers told the woman, “You live in Israel? So why do you have a Palestinian flag? Why live here? Go to Palestine.”
The woman, who has no criminal background, organizes weekly anti-crime protests at central points in Arab towns.
“They knocked forcefully on the door, and suddenly ten police officers were standing in front of me,” the woman said. “The children woke up terrified, and I asked the officers, ‘What are you doing here?'” She said the officers smashed belongings, trampled on the beds and knocked over cabinets.
“They turned the house upside down, as if there had been an explosion in my home,” she said. According to her, after finding a Palestinian flag and magnets, the officers laid a flag out on the bed and stepped on it, and one of them told her she was “encouraging terrorists.”
“They forbade us from filming; the children who were in the house were very frightened,” the woman said. Her daughter told Haaretz that she asked one of the policewomen, “Which unit are you from, Lahav?” According to her, the officer replied, “The Ben-Gvir police.”
The woman was detained for questioning over the flags and magnets found in her home and was told she was suspected of incitement. She said the officers told her, “Haven’t you heard what happened in the attack in Afula? Anyone who holds flags supports the attack, and those who carried out October 7 – so you support them.”
She was ultimately questioned at Afula police station on suspicion of offenses including conduct likely to disturb the public peace and conspiracy to commit a crime. “I am a peace activist who works against violent crime in Arab society – it’s absurd,” she told investigators. “You don’t know me; every Friday I stand against violence.” She also said during questioning that the law does not prohibit her from keeping a Palestinian flag in her home. At the end of the questioning, her phones were seized, and she was released on bail.
“The damage is mainly psychological – why should my children be afraid that those police officers will come back?” the woman asked. “I’m a woman who isn’t afraid, and I answered them on everything. It’s infuriating, but I don’t intend to hold back or stop protesting. I understand that in the end, this is politics, but I’m not afraid of them, and I will always fight against violence and crime. There is room here for two nations.”
Police said that after receiving information indicating the possible possession of weapons at the woman’s home, officers searched the residence. At the conclusion of the search, she was detained and questioned on those suspicions. Police added that during the search, officers encountered additional items raising suspicion of offenses involving conduct likely to disturb the public peace, and that the suspect was therefore also questioned in connection with those findings.
Jewish-Palestinian movement Standing Together responded to the incident, saying that the police’s actions prove that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and the government are not interested or willing to fight crime in the Arab community.
“The Ben-Gvir police are trying to intimidate anyone who wants a normal life in this country,” the movement said. “There is no lie or blood libel they will not use to smear the Arab public and all those who seek good in this country.”
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