A Jerusalem man in his 40s was arrested after an alleged assault on a cleaning worker at the Royal Beach Hotel in Eilat, following an argument over food and drinks by the pool. The guest, identified only as A., was with family members when they ordered meals and beverages served on trays.
According to A., a cleaner took the trays and threw them into a trash bin even though the family had not finished eating or drinking and had not given permission. He said the confrontation began after he called the worker out. “I confronted him and then he attacked me, and I only defended myself,” A. said in his police questioning.
Police say A. became enraged and attacked the cleaner. Hotel security was called after a report that a guest had assaulted a cleaning worker in the pool area, and officers detained A. at the hotel and took him in for questioning. Investigators collected security camera footage that, they say, documents the incident from start to finish, and they also took statements from additional hotel employees.
On Monday, A. was brought before the Eilat Magistrate’s Court. Police asked to extend his detention by six days and said he was being investigated on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm. His lawyer asked for house arrest, saying he has no criminal record and acted in self-defense. The judge extended the arrest by only one day, saying that even if A. believed he was acting in self-defense, “this is not something to resolve with a punch.”
