Israel’s State Attorney’s Office filed an indictment on Monday in the Beersheba District Court against 21-year-old Ido Dekel and 19-year-old Nahman Biton, both from Beersheba, over an alleged stabbing that followed a traffic argument. The indictment, filed by prosecutor Idan Ivgi from the Southern District, says the incident happened about a month ago in Beersheba when the complainant, a man in his 50s, was driving with his mother.
According to the charges, the suspects were stopped at a red light next to him. When the light changed, the complainant drove slowly, and the defendants passed him on the right while crossing a solid line. After the intersection, the complainant overtook them, blocked their path, and got out to speak with them. During that exchange, he reportedly told Bitton, “Friend, that is not how you do it and you do not drive like that. If you want to cut in, at least turn on your blinker.” Bitton allegedly replied, “Do you have a problem?” The complainant said no, returned to his car, and left.
A few minutes later, after he parked and opened his trunk, the two suspects allegedly arrived after following him, stopped nearby, and got out with a third unknown man. Dekel was said to be holding a sharp object, and Bitton a dog. The indictment says Dekel stabbed the complainant several times in the leg, and during the assault one of them also stabbed him in the stomach. Dekel then allegedly said, “Look what I did to your leg,” or words to that effect, and asked Bitton to release the dog toward the victim. The complainant, bleeding, moved to a nearby bench before the suspects fled. Rescue teams evacuated him to hospital, and Dekel later returned to the scene to collect his car.
The indictment also says Bitton fled when he noticed police coming to his home and was not found for about two weeks. He was later identified at a shopping complex in the city, and when officers followed him into a restaurant and identified themselves, he threw a knife at them. Ivgi asked the court to keep both men in custody until the end of proceedings, arguing they posed a danger to the public because they escalated a minor road dispute into serious violence, used a knife, followed the victim, and tried to intimidate him with a dog. Both defendants are charged with aggravated grievous bodily harm and unlawful possession of a knife, while Bitton also faces obstruction of a police officer. The case was investigated by the Beersheba Negev police station.
