Masked teens disrupt Tel Aviv ninth-grade graduation party, police investigate

A disturbing incident shook a Tel Aviv school last week during a ninth-grade graduation party, when two teenage boys entered a school in central Tel Aviv and looked for one student while other teens, some masked, waited outside the gate. Police opened an investigation after the party was stopped, and a 17-year-old from northern Israel was arrested.

According to the report, the student they were seeking noticed what was happening and hid in a bathroom. School staff intervened to prevent contact, and with help from his mother, they escorted the student out of the school. Students said the group was actually searching for three different pupils, but the boy who was taken out was the “main target.” The school also removed the other two students from the premises.

A complaint was filed with police, which is now trying to identify additional teenagers suspected of helping plan and carry out the incident. Parents in Tel Aviv said they are increasingly worried about a rise in youth violence, especially as teenagers begin summer vacation.

The article also places the episode in a broader context of rising juvenile crime in Tel Aviv District. Ynet’s 2025 data show 2,084 investigation files opened against minors, the highest number in four years, up from 2,043 in 2022, 1,851 in 2023, and 1,935 in 2024. The number of closed cases fell to 694 in 2025 from 1,542 in 2022, while arrests of minors climbed to 568 from 301, and indictments rose from 442 to 571, nearly 30% more.