Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Judge Irit Cohen ordered three members of Israel Police to make compensatory payment in the amount of NIS 50,000 to Yitzhar residents after the court ruled they did lie and slander the plaintiffs.

The details refer to reports submitted by Yaakov Golan, a high-ranking intelligence officer in the Shai District, and Detective Gil Deshah, both fabricating official documents involving residents of the Shomron community, citing this was done on more than one occasion, painting a false picture and besmirching the residents of the yishuv generally portrayed in the mainstream media as right-wing extreme. The third police official, Eliezer Alharar, all of the Shai (Shomron – Yehuda) District was found guilty of slandering the Yitzhar residents during radio interviews. The entire case surrounds allegations from an Arab Shepherd, who in the summer of 2004 accused Yitzhar residents of stealing his sheep, an allegation police opted to believe as factual despite adamant denials from Yitzhar suspects.

Making things worse, the police brought the Arab to the community, who ‘identified’ his heard, really Jewish-owned sheep, and then ordered the Jews to permit the Arab to take his herd back. The police acted strictly on the word of the PA (Palestinian Authority) resident, lacking any proof, demanding the Jews relinquish the ‘stolen’ sheep. Amazingly, members of the community’s first-response team responding to a report that Arabs infiltrated the community were placed under arrest and detained for ten days on the authority of intelligence officer Golan and Deshah.

While the case was eventually closed and all charges drop, since there was not a shred of evidence, the four decided that had enough and pursued filing charged against police for lying and simply complicating their lives without cause and painting Yitzhar residents in a bad light, opting to act as agents of the Arab shepherd rather than responsible for upholding the law.

The court ignored the Arab claims to the sheep, but addressed the reality that police lied, fabricated official reports, and portrayed the Yitzhar detainees as criminals in the media.

The court did however dismiss demands for compensation for ten days in prison, explaining had the four cooperated with investigators, they would not have been detained for so long.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)