Five Police Officers Investigated for Kidnapping and Assaulting Eilat Resident

The Police Investigations Department (Mahash) announced Monday that five police officers have been investigated under caution on suspicion of kidnapping and aggravated assault of an Eilat resident. The investigation follows an August report in the newspaper Haaretz detailing how Yadin White, 38, a member of the Hebrew community, was allegedly beaten while handcuffed and left injured in a secluded area. Mahash stated that the officers are suspected of handcuffing White and transporting him to a secluded area under the guise of police activity. "There, according to the suspicion, the suspects beat the complainant and caused him serious injuries. Afterward, they left the scene, abandoning the complainant, injured, at the location," the department said. Mahash noted that the five officers allegedly arrived at a club in Eilat after a claim was made that White had harassed a woman. White denied the accusation, and the club told Haaretz at the time that harassment had occurred that evening, but White was not the person against whom the complaint was filed. Following the investigation, the five suspects were sent to house arrest until Thursday and are barred from police stations and from contacting each other for 11 days. White stated in August that the officers refused to explain the reason for his arrest, saying, "I felt they wanted to kill me and leave me there. I didn't even know where I was." He recounted that he was in a tourist area of Eilat when two plainclothes officers approached him around 3 a.m., identified themselves with a police emblem, and then allegedly threw him to the ground, handcuffed him, and told him to be silent. White claimed one officer asked, "Is it permissible to do this?" and the other replied, "Let's make an example of him." He was then placed in a patrol car, which he believed was heading to a police station, but instead drove to a mountainous area. There, he alleged, his phone and ID were taken, he was removed from the car, and beaten for at least seven minutes while still handcuffed. White, who identified himself as a U.S. citizen, stated he felt he was close to death and believed he would have been more severely harmed, possibly killed, had he not mentioned his citizenship. Around 4 a.m., the officers allegedly returned his belongings and left in a white vehicle with a red license plate. White attempted to photograph them but they had already departed. He called for medical assistance, but it was the police who summoned an ambulance for him at 4:45 a.m., according to MDA. However, the police deny this, stating he was released at the scene at his request. This contradicts the claim that he was arrested due to a harassment complaint, as he was released about an hour later and not taken to a station. White filed a complaint with Mahash following the alleged assault.