Avraham Hadi, 44, was indicted by prosecutors on Wednesday for allegedly targeting the offices of several news outlets and the Justice Ministry in a series of vandalism and threat incidents.
The indictment comes as Israel heads toward elections following a Knesset term marked by fierce disputes over changes to the media and legal system.
The State Attorney’s Office filed the indictment against the Ramat Gan resident with the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court.
According to the indictment, Hadi threw bricks at the entrance doors of the Channel 12 offices on two occasions and at a Justice Ministry building twice, as well as at the entrance to the Haaretz offices. He is also accused of spray-painting a threatening message outside the Channel 13 offices.
The alleged incidents began on November 19, 2025, when Hadi allegedly spray-painted “The traitors’ blood will yet be cleared for publication” on a wall opposite the Channel 13 offices. Prosecutors said the message was intended to frighten or intimidate the outlet’s employees.
Five brick attacks followed during July, all shortly after 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., according to the indictment. Hadi allegedly arrived at each building masked and wearing work gloves.
On July 5, he allegedly threw two bricks at the glass entrance to Channel 12, shattering the door. Three days later, he is accused of carrying out a similar attack at the Haaretz offices.
The Justice Ministry building was then targeted twice. On July 15, Hadi allegedly threw two bricks at its glass entrance, picked them up and threw one of them again, shattering the door before fleeing. On July 22, he allegedly returned and shattered the entrance again with two bricks.
Hadi allegedly demanded apologies for Sde Teiman affair
Prosecutors said Hadi’s choice of targets reflected his own views of the judicial system and of the specific media outlets, and that the attacks were therefore deliberate and planned.
During the second attack on the Channel 12 offices, on July 28, Hadi allegedly left behind a threatening message calling on the outlet to “apologize over the Sde Teiman affair.”
The envelope was addressed to “Keshet 12, the Amalekite mouthpiece,” according to the indictment. It was found by a Channel 12 producer who arrived at the offices at approximately 6:30 a.m.
“Until you apologize over the Sde Teiman affair, I am not stopping,” the note said. It warned that, if no apology were issued, “the next brick will be aimed at one of your heads,” adding that “someone will die.”
The letter also named a series of senior security, legal, political, and protest figures, including former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, former IDF chiefs of staff Herzi Halevi and Aharon Haliva, Central Command chief Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth, protest leader Shikma Bressler, former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, Democrats chairman Yair Golan, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, and Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara. It concluded by warning that God would punish them.
Hadi then allegedly threw two bricks at the Channel 12 entrance, again shattering the glass door. Prosecutors said the letter and the accompanying attack were intended to force the network’s employees to apologize for the Sde Teiman coverage.
The Sde Teiman affair centered on footage broadcast by Channel 12 in 2024 that appeared to show reservists abusing a Palestinian security detainee at the military detention facility. Five reservists were later indicted, but the military prosecution withdrew the charges in March, citing evidentiary difficulties and concerns over their ability to receive a fair trial.
Hadi was arrested on July 30 following an investigation by the Tel Aviv District Central Unit. Police said clothing and other evidence found during a search of his home linked him to the alleged offenses.
The indictment charges Hadi with extortion by threats, making threats, malicious damage to property, defacing property, and obstruction of justice.
According to the prosecution’s request to keep him detained through the trial, investigators relied on security-camera footage from the targeted buildings and from Hadi’s apartment building.
Prosecutors said the footage showed a masked man wearing work gloves throwing bricks at the buildings. Other footage allegedly showed Hadi leaving for work before the attacks and returning afterward, with clothing matching that worn by the assailant visible beneath and over his reflective Tel Aviv Municipality work vest.
Investigators also found clothing in Hadi’s apartment that allegedly matched the assailant’s clothing. Shoes and trousers said to match those seen in the footage were found in a garbage bin at his apartment building.
The indictment alleges that Hadi discarded the shoes and trousers before his arrest in an attempt to conceal evidence, forming the basis of the obstruction charge.
Hadi is charged with one count of extortion by threats, four counts of making threats, five counts of malicious damage to property, one count of defacing property, and one count of obstruction of justice.
The State Attorney’s Office also asked the court to keep Hadi in custody until the end of the proceedings. Prosecutors argued that the alleged conduct showed a rapid escalation from graffiti to repeated property damage and, ultimately, an explicit threat of physical violence. They also argued that the alleged attempt to discard evidence created a risk that he would obstruct the proceedings if released.
The detention request cited a previous conviction for assault causing bodily harm and defacing property in a case involving graffiti on the Kirya military headquarters. Prosecutors said the alleged Channel 13 offense was committed while a suspended prison sentence from that case remained in force. A separate case over graffiti allegedly sprayed on a courthouse wall is still pending.
Court orders a psychiatric evaluation
At a Sunday remand hearing, the court ordered a psychiatric evaluation of Hadi’s mental condition and his fitness to stand trial.
During an earlier remand hearing, Hadi denied the allegations. The detention request states that he initially admitted during a November 2025 interrogation to spraying the message outside Channel 13. Following his July arrest, however, he denied involvement in the alleged offenses and withdrew that admission, saying it had been made under pressure.
His attorney, Eran Amrani, argued that the alleged acts should be viewed as political protest and noted that they were said to have been carried out at night, when people were unlikely to be present.