Police Officer and Two IDF Officers, Including Reserve Colonel, Suspected of Attempted Murder

A special investigative team in the Department for Investigation of Police Officers, in the Southern District, together with the Rotem unit of the police’s elite Southern District investigative branch, arrested three suspects yesterday, a Magav border police officer serving compulsory service and two of his relatives who serve as officers in the IDF, one of them a reserve colonel, on suspicion of involvement in an attempted murder that took place about a month ago in the Negev.

Today, Tuesday, the three suspects were brought to the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court for a closed-door hearing, and at the end of the hearing the police officer’s detention was extended by nine days, while the detention of the two other suspects was extended by three days.

According to the suspicion, the attempted murder that occurred on May 2 this year was planned in advance as an ambush by the three, when the officer, who has been absent from service for about a year, together with his two relatives, one of them, as noted, a reserve colonel in his 40s and the other a permanent-service officer in his 20s, all residents of the Negev, were allegedly involved in the attempted murder under investigation. A gag order was imposed on the suspects’ names, and the investigation continues.

Last month, the Department for Investigation of Police Officers questioned, under caution, two police officers who were involved in the violent arrest incident of the attorney in Beersheba. The two were questioned on suspicion of assault and causing grievous bodily harm. At the end of their questioning, it was decided to keep the suspected officers away from police facilities for five days. In addition, they were prohibited from contacting the other people involved in the case. The Department for Investigation of Police Officers said that the investigation into the matter is ongoing.