Israel Closes Daycare Abuse Case, Sparking Parental Outrage

Prosecutors have decided to close the investigation into Ziona Amar, the director of a private daycare in the village of Nehora, who was arrested and suspected of physically and mentally abusing toddlers in her care. The decision comes nearly 18 months after the affair was exposed, partly due to a Supreme Court ruling distinguishing between the use of force in child-rearing and intentional violence. The closure of the case and the decision not to indict Amar have ignited immense anger, uproar, and shock among the toddlers' parents and many other parents. For the families, this is an infuriating decision after a prolonged period of anxiety and struggle since the events at the daycare came to light. Roni Klug, a mother of a toddler who was at the Nehora daycare during the incidents, recounted her distress upon hearing recordings from the facility, telling "Haolam Boker," "It's a moment when I'm home listening to the recordings and it just feels like the sky fell on me. Where am I sending my child every morning?" Klug shared, "When we saw the videos at the police station, we saw how she pushed his head into the bed when he was crying and didn't want to sleep, held him by the hand, force-fed him, and shook him." The prosecution stated, "After a thorough examination of all the evidence in the case, and in light of the Supreme Court ruling on the issue, it was found that the evidentiary basis does not support filing an indictment, and therefore it was decided to close the case."