Suspects in assault on Arab family in Jaffa identified as settler extremists, attack racially motivated say police

The three men suspected of attacking an Arab family in Jaffa, at the Tel Aviv Magistrate Court on 16 December 2025

Yair Foldes and Josh Breiner report in Haaretz on 26 December 2025:

The three men suspected of assaulting an Arab-Israeli woman in Jaffa on Friday were identified as far-right activists from the so-called Hilltop Youth, who have been banned from entering the West Bank, the police said during a hearing on extending their detention on Tuesday.

The suspects were arrested on Monday in connection with the assault on Hanan Khimel and her family. The Tel Aviv Magistrates’ Court ruled that they will remain in custody for an additional five days.

One of the suspects had been in administrative detention for several months in 2023, on suspicion of assaulting Palestinians in the central West Bank. According to the police representative in court, the three suspects had planned the attack and carried it out in a racially motivated assault.

The court issued a gag order on the identities of the three men, who were arrested on Monday. They are suspected of racially motivated aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit a felony and making threats.

Police requested to extend their detention by eight days. Judge Adi Yakubovitz partly accepted the request, extending the detention by five days. She said that the detention was extended due to concerns that they were dangerous and might obstruct the investigation.

The police counsel said at the hearing that the three men admitted to pepper-spraying Hanan Khimel and her family when they claimed that they acted out of self-defense. He said that the suspects “created a provocation.”

Hilltop Youth is a nickname given to religious far-right activists building outposts in the West Bank, who are often minors. Assaf Gonen from the right-wing legal defense organization Honenu, who represents the three, slammed the police counsel, saying, “The fact that the suspects came to Jaffa, when one of them lives in Jaffa, is provocation?”

The suspects “claim that they were walking there, one of them accidentally touched the family’s car, and they immediately got out, crowding them, then one of them pepper-sprayed out of self-defense,” he told Haaretz.  “They were innocently walking, and then it went from zero to a hundred, and they were merely defending themselves.”

Khimel said on Monday that she and her children would not feel safe until her assailants are brought to justice, adding, “The police must make a thorough change. Their job is to protect us civilians, both in Jaffa and outside Jaffa.”

The assault on Khimel sent shockwaves across Jaffa. Many businesses on Yefet Street went on strike in protest of the assault, and dozens of residents demonstrated.

Following the protests, 14 people were arrested on suspicion of breach of public order, but the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court ordered their release on Monday evening, dismissing the police’s motion to stay the release until an appeal was filed.

Following the ruling, Jaffa Muslim Council chairman Abed Abu Shehadeh was arrested and released within an hour. He said that he was arrested on suspicion of breach of public order because of the protest.

Association of Jaffa Arabs Director Omar Siksak was also summoned for questioning on suspicion of conduct that was liable to be a breach of public order following his participation in the protest.

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