Terror victim's husband threatens to take his own life
Tzipi Yaakobiyan was paralyzed from the neck down after being stabbed in a terror attack in 2016; Her husband says he threatened suicide, and to stab an officer, to raise awareness about insufficient treatment from the state.
Tzipi Yaakobiyan served at the Shalem Police Station near Herod's Gate in east Jerusalem. In September 2016, she was walking on her way to the police station with fellow officer Koby Krudo when the terrorist Ayman Kurd attacked her and Krudo and stabbed Yaakobiyan in the neck multiple times.
She was rushed to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where she was hospitalized for several weeks in serious condition under sedation.
Yaakobiyan is undergoing continued rehabilitation in Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus, but she has been left paralyzed from her neck down. She and her husband are waging a campaign against the Defense Ministry in an effort to receive funding that will enable them to purchase an accessible house.
When Uri Shechter, a social activists and educator who met the family at the hospital, heard about the problems they say they are facing, he launched a crowdfunding campaign dubbed “to release Tzipi.” At the end of the campaign he raised NIS 31-32 million.
On Thursday night the police received a report that Benny Yaakobiyan was holding a knife in his home and threatening to commit suicide. Officers who arrived at the house, and afterward left the place, received another report that he was threatening to stab a police officer if he approaches his home.
After the policemen managed to subdue him, he was taken to the police station and later underwent a psychiatric examination. Afterward, the police requested that his arrest be extended by three days for fear that he may disrupt the investigation and constitutes a risk.
Yaakobiyan claimed that he threatened to harm himself because of the troubles he had experienced since the wounding of his wife and the disappointment in the fact that they do not receive assistance from the Defense Ministry and the police. He therefore wanted to raise awareness, he claims.
Yaakobiyan turned to Judge Shmuel Herbst and explained his troubles to him, which he said began after the attack.
“She received an electric wheelchair only after a year and three months. She was using a Yad Sarah (voluntary organization) wheelchair, they didn’t give psychological treatment to the children for half a year. Nothing helped. I begged the Defense Ministry to help me, we were with the Minister for Public Security Gilad Erdan and to this day he never got back to us, the police commissioner also said he would help. What they promised they should give,” he said in his emotional appeal.
A police representative said during the discussion: “There is no doubt that this is a sensitive issue. The court needs to pay attention to the fact that the police acted with sensitivity, with tolerance until the real danger called out to the sky. He wouldn’t be sitting here if it wasn’t for that danger. It’s true that there is a background that cannot be ignored, and it’s true that there are no words to describe the complexity of this incident. With all due respect, the conduct and behavior of Yaakobiyan broke all barriers and we were forced to arrest him. He brought this on himself.”
Judge Herbst rejected the request by the police to extend his arrest, saying that he did not believe that the investigation justified his continued remand.
“The situation arising from this request is illogical and absurd. The person who has been seriously affected in the terror attack is being defined as ‘dangerous,’" he lamented. "In my opinion, after studying the case, I think this is a protest caused by despair, and not by a desire to attack policemen or harm anyone. I think that the cries of troubles that are being described in the request have to be answered and treated swiftly and appropriately.”
The police voiced their opposition to the decision and asked that his release be delayed or that he be placed under house arrest so they can appeal the decision. Demurring however, the judge said that "In this case, I don’t see the need to grant the request.”
In response, the Defense Ministry issued a statement insisting that Tzipi Yaakobiyan had received intensive treatment since the day she was wounded in the terror attack.
“The rehabilitations department is involved in Yaakobiyan’s rehabilitation and as such, she has received and continues to receive all the assistance she is entitled to according to the law,” the statement read. “It should also be noted that Tzipi Yaakobiyan and her family received from the Defense Ministry additional assistance of NIS 1.9 million for purchasing an appropriate apartment for their needs.”
