Dozens of anarchists stormed a Petach Tikvah police station after anarchist Itzik Medina was detained over alleged plans to commit a violent attack against a public figure.

Medina was summoned for questioning by the police after they received intelligence information from the Shin Bet about his alleged intentions.

He arrived at the police station on his own volition but following a post on social media, dozens of anarchists gathered outside the police station and demanded his release.

Medina was released after his interrogation but initially refused to leave the station without a written apology. Bogi Ya’alon and Medina’s lawyers eventually convinced him to leave.

Despite his release, Medina’s arrest had unforeseen consequences, when Channel 14 News reporter Shirel Laloom-Nahir recognized him as the man who attacked her six months ago, while she was pregnant, when she was reporting on a protest in Petach Tikvah. She called the Petach Tikvah police station and the police re-opened the case, which was closed a month ago since the police claimed they could not locate the suspect.

“We warned everyone that this was coming and now it’s here,” said Yiftach Golov, a spokesperson for the anti-government Achim L’Neshek group in response to the arrest. “This is a window into our future under a dictatorship. But we, the people, will never surrender.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)