Knesset candidate Marzel indicted for allegedly assaulting Palestinian
Number 4 on Yahad list says "it's strange that a week before the election the police charge me for an event that happened several years ago."
By JPOST.COM STAFFBaruch Marzel (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Baruch Marzel, the right-wing activist who is No. 4 on the Yahad party’s Knesset candidates list, was indicted Wednesday for allegedly attacking a Palestinian man in Hebron in 2013.According to the allegations, Issa Amru was sitting in the courtyard of his house in the West Bank city, drinking tea with his friends, when Marzel entered the courtyard, asked him to leave, and then struck him.Local residents eventually called a nearby IDF soldier to quell the ensuing unrest.According to the indictment, after the soldier left the scene, Marzel kicked Amru in the leg, leaving red marks.Marzel was charged with trespassing and assault.In response to the indictment, Marzel accused police of trying to harm his Knesset campaign.“It is strange that a week before the election, the police charge me over an event that happened several years ago. They found a case from the back of the drawer based on a criminal complaint that was even [rejected by human rights organization] B’Tselem. Their interest is clear – they are afraid and are trying to hurt my campaign in any way possible. The police and the State Attorney’s Office do not accept the High Court’s decision to let me run.”Furthermore, he argued, “for years they have been lenient with [Balad MK Haneen] Zoabi, but with me, they have a quick trigger finger.”He vowed that “despite their efforts, next week, God willing, I will be a member of Knesset and I will fight the politicization that exists in the police and State Attorney’s Office.”
