Two National Guard Members Indicted for Assault and Unauthorized Searches in Tel Sheva

Two members of the Israeli National Guard have been indicted by the Police Investigations Department (Mahash) for assaulting and humiliating two residents of the Bedouin town Tel Sheva, which one of the residents referred to disparagingly as "Tel Crime." The incident occurred during a patrol in the town, where the guards conducted unauthorized body searches and used violent force against the residents. According to the indictment filed at the Beersheba Magistrate's Court, after one resident corrected the guards on the town's name, the two officers, identified as Maman and Harliakar, exited their vehicle and demanded identification. Harliakar ordered one resident to face the wall, raise his hands, and spread his legs before searching him without legal authority. The search found nothing, but Harliakar then allegedly struck the man forcefully in the back, knocked him down, kicked him, punched him repeatedly in the face and head, and only stopped after noticing bleeding. Maman similarly searched the second resident without authority, then kicked him in the leg and groin, knocked him down, and continued kicking him. Two other National Guard members present did not intervene. Approximately an hour after the assault, Maman and Harliakar returned to the scene to check for security cameras. Following a complaint to Mahash, the two were arrested and interrogated. Attorney Naama Lazmi submitted the indictment charging them with assault and related offenses as detailed in the indictment.