Jerusalem Court Reinstates Conviction of Former Border Police Officer in Journalist Assault
Jerusalem District Court overturned a lower court’s decision and convicted former Border Police officer Itzhak Sofer again for assaulting Turkish press photographer Mustafa al-Kharouf. The attack took place in December 2023 in East Jerusalem, when a Border Police unit under Sofer was ordered to block the Wadi Joz road so special and undercover forces could operate. Al-Kharouf, an Anadolu Agency photographer, and his colleague Faiz Abu-Ramila were at the scene and were told to move away. When they did not immediately comply, they were pushed off the road as al-Kharouf shouted that he was a journalist.
According to the indictment, Sofer then punched al-Kharouf in the head and kicked him in the leg. After the officers began walking away, al-Kharouf shouted insults at them. Sofer turned back, cocked his weapon, pointed it directly at the journalist, and struck him on the head with the barrel of the gun. The confrontation escalated again when al-Kharouf called him more insults, and Sofer reportedly aimed his weapon again, ordered another officer to pin al-Kharouf to the ground, and then delivered nine kicks to the journalist’s head while the other officer held him down and placed a knee on his back. He also stepped on al-Kharouf’s stomach. The photographer was taken to hospital with head stitches and extensive bruising to his face and eyes.
In September, Magistrate’s Court Judge Amir Shaked acquitted Sofer of threats linked to the gun but convicted him of assault causing injury. Shaked rejected Sofer’s claim that he had been forced to kick the photographer and said no officer at the scene testified to fearing for his life from the restrained journalist. Still, the judge later erased the criminal conviction at sentencing, citing probation reports and Sofer’s personal circumstances, including his youth, clean record, his actions on October 7, and the risk that a conviction would end his police career and treatment. Instead, he received 300 hours of community service.
The state appealed, arguing that the ruling departed from precedent and implicated two major public interests, fighting police violence and protecting press freedom. Prosecutor Daniele Shachaf said the lower court had been lenient because Sofer was a policeman, despite his abuse of police authority, and noted the severe international damage caused by video of the attack. The district judges, Chaya Zandberg, Elazar Nahlon and Eran Shilo, adopted a compromise, restoring the criminal conviction while leaving the 300-hour sentence unchanged. Before the ruling, Sofer told the court he had been punished repeatedly, described himself as a decorated officer suffering from PTSD, and said, “I am not a bad person.” The judges said they expected the authorities to consider his exceptional circumstances, his contribution to national security, and his treatment, calling the incident a one-time lapse.
