Suspected serial assailant in Tel Aviv arrested after Walla report

Police in Jaffa arrested a Tel Aviv man in his 30s late Saturday after he was filmed attacking a woman on Harutzim Street in Jaffa. The case was opened after a video circulated on social media and was reported by Walla. Officers from the Jaffa station in the Ayalon district used overt and covert investigative steps to identify him, and they found him in southern Tel Aviv before taking him for questioning.

Police said they will seek to extend his detention in court depending on the investigation’s findings. The arrest comes after several Tel Aviv residents were attacked in recent months in a similar pattern, a hard body shove disguised as an accidental collision. Security-camera footage exposed the method and prompted complaints from both women and men. So far, two police complaints have been filed.

In one clip, the man is seen approaching a woman leaving a business, stepping into her path and striking her forcefully with his body. She fell to the ground and lay motionless, prompting the business owner to come outside. According to the report, the man then pretended to help, as if it had happened by chance, and left after a few moments.

Other testimonies indicate he used the same tactic in earlier incidents in central and southern Tel Aviv. Karen, a Tel Aviv resident, told Walla: “I was walking in the street and he just hit me hard. It hurt like crazy.” She said he first apologized, then became angry when she accused him of doing it on purpose, adding that nearby vendors told her he does it regularly. She said she recognized the same incident after seeing the video and realized only later that it was systematic.