Informant tells security forces of hate crime, they fail to prevent it
An informant who was involved in a 'price tag' hate crime in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood notified the police before and while the crime was being committed, but the police didn't act to prevent the crime; police reject claims.
A informant of Israeli security forces, who is on trial for a hate crime in Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in December 2017, apparently notified law enforcement authorities before and while the crime was being committed, but they did nothing to stop it.
According to the indictment filed against the informant, several days prior to the incident the defendant conspired with another man to commit a "price tag" attack—an act of vandalism committed by Jewish fundamentalist settler youths against the Palestinian population.
He prepared a bag with a spray can and a bottle with flammable liquid, which he stashed in a hiding place in Jerusalem's Old City.
On the day of the crime, the other man met with the informant, who showed him the hidden bag. When the accomplice saw the bag had also contained a gasoline bottle, he refused to go along with arson and took the bottle out. The informant tried to convince him to use the flammable liquid.
Later, the accomplice arrived at the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, chose a complex housing Arabs and sprayed graffiti in line with what he and the informant had agreed on.
Moreover, the informant allegedly prepared another bag with a Molotov cocktail, hid it in a settlement in the Samaria region of the West Bank, and tried to solicit his partner in crime to commit a second "price tag" crime.
The informant had told security forces about the planned crime before and even while it was being committed, however they did not prevent it for an unknown reason.
The Israel Police rejected the report, saying it is "based on erroneous facts that are not in line with reality."
"Contrary to what has been claimed, the prisoner has never been employed as a police agent. Furthermore, this is a prisoner who was accused, convicted and is serving a prison sentence due to his involvement in a 'price tag' attack, and his arrest is the result of determined police activity against such crimes.
"Naturally, we will not divulge classified information, but we will state that any complaint or information received in the police that raises suspicion of a criminal offense is thoroughly checked and translated, when the need arises, to investigative or enforcement activities accordingly.
"The Israel Police will continue acting with determination against any hate crime and bring any lawbreaker taking part in such wrong actions to justice, at any time and any place," the police concluded.
