Homeless Man Charged with Kidnapping, Threats, and Stabbing Incidents Involving Minors

The State Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment against Yigal Buskila, a 19-year-old homeless man from Jerusalem, for three separate incidents involving minors across Israel. The charges include false imprisonment, threats, assault causing actual bodily harm, assault, invasion of privacy, and illegal possession of a knife.

According to the indictment, during August, Buskila approached and engaged with unknown minors in various locations. In one instance, he approached a 10-year-old boy playing in a Petah Tikva soccer field, asked for money, and then led the child on a hours-long journey through several cities, eventually taking him to a dilapidated underground shelter in Bnei Brak. Buskila allegedly placed his head on the child's shoulder and knees, and despite the boy's distress and requests to leave, kept him in the shelter for several minutes. The child was later found by police and reportedly suffered from insomnia and nightmares.

In another incident in Hadera, Buskila approached two 17-year-old girls, claiming to be dangerous and threatening them and passersby. He allegedly grabbed one girl's hand, attempted to take her phone, and followed her home, telling her she could not leave. The following day, he reportedly returned to her building and whistled at her window.

In a third case in Be'er Sheva, Buskila met a 15-year-old boy at the central bus station, asked for money, cigarettes, shoes, and a place to sleep. They went to a dark shelter in Arad, where Buskila allegedly pulled out a large, sharp knife after the boy turned on his phone's flashlight. The prosecutor's office is seeking to keep Buskila in custody until the end of proceedings, citing significant evidence including witness testimonies, security footage, and confessions, as well as his history of property offenses and illegal knife possession.