Violence (Illustration)
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Haifa: Jewish men allegedly assaulted by Arabs
Three Jewish men attacked upon leaving pub in northern Israeli city; say multiple assailants swore in Arabic. Haifa police investigating
Three 22-year-old Jewish men were assaulted Saturday night, while leaving a Haifa pub. The assailants are believed to be Arabs, although the police are unsure whether the attack was nationalistically motivated.
Two of the three are IDF servicemen and the third is a student at the Israeli Institute of Technology. The latter told Ynet of the attack: "We left the pub around 1:30 am. Two men began walking behind us and swearing at us. We ignored them, but they kept following us. They were clearly looking for a fight.
"As soon as one of my friends answered back the fight broke put," he added. "It felt like an ambush. Two cars arrived almost immediately and 10 people came out of them... they split into three groups, each attacking one of us."
The assault included punching and kicking, with the assailants – according to the three's testimonies – constantly swearing and shouting in Arabic. A passing car eventually broke up the fight, and the three managed to get home on their own accord, arriving at a police station later to file a report.
Haifa Police Chief Major-General David Ben-Atia regretted the fact that the three did not call the police immediately, since massive police forces routinely patrol the general area of the attack – a known recreational area in Haifa – every Friday.
"The complaint was filed nearly 24 hours after the incident took place, making it very hard for us to track down the assailants," he said.
As for the assault being nationalistically motivated, Maj.-Gen. Ben-Atia was skeptic: "They were not in uniform. The area is no stranger to fights between the various ethnic groups that hang out there, so I can't say it was nationalistically motivated with absolute certainty. This is an ongoing investigation."
