Orly (a pseudonym) was on her balcony on Wednesday, overlooking the yard of the Menachem Begin Elementary School in the town of Hod Hasharon, where her daughter is in first grade. She noticed one of the cleaning staff holding a long knife and peeling fruit, which raised her suspicions. After making several calls, including to the police, it was revealed that the worker was a resident of Qalqilya pretending to be from Jerusalem.
"I happened to be at home today, sitting on my balcony that overlooks the school," Orly explains. "I'm very anxious. When my daughter needs to go to the bathroom, I ask someone to accompany her because the workers roam freely among the students. There are Arab cleaning workers, and when I saw one of them with a really large knife, I thought it was inappropriate in a school setting."
Concerned for the students, she called the parents' committee, but they did not take her concerns seriously. "I called the school and told them it didn't make sense for the children to be on break while she was walking around with a knife. They told me it was being handled." She then contacted the police: "They arrived quickly, approached the worker, and she became very upset, acting out in front of the children and hitting herself on the head. I saw them shouting at her because of her behavior, and the officer handcuffed her hands and feet and took her away."
She added, "Later, the officer called me and said, 'Thank you very much, you saved several children. She was an infiltrator pretending, and no one checked her. She lives in Qalqilya.' There was panic at the school; they didn't understand where it came from. The children were very frightened, and the principal called to thank me for preventing a serious incident."
The police stated, "A resident of Qalqilya was arrested on suspicion of impersonating a Jerusalem resident and working in cleaning at a school in Hod Hasharon. Officers arrived at the school this morning following a report about a suspicious cleaning worker. Station officers found that she was a resident of Qalqilya working without the appropriate permits, pretending to be from Jerusalem. The worker was taken to the station, and it will be decided if her detention will be extended based on the investigation's needs."
2 View gallery
IDF conducting a raid in Qalqilya, where the woman was from
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Hod Hasharon Mayor Amir Kochavi stated: "Earlier today, following a resident's inquiry, sanitation workers at Begin School were interviewed. The investigation revealed that one worker's ID card was forged and that she is actually a resident of Qalqilya. Our preliminary inquiry indicates that she started yesterday as a replacement worker under the cleaning contractor. It seems there were several procedural violations, including the contractor not identifying the forged ID and failing to submit the worker for a check with the municipal security department as required.
"The municipality will conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine whether this was negligence or fraud and will act accordingly. The procedures for working with various contractors serving the municipality will be clarified, and surprise checks will be increased. We will continue coordinating with the police to ensure this deviation is addressed and to prevent it from recurring."