Arab arrested for horrifying rape of Jewish woman in front of her terrified children

22-year-old Bedouin construction worker broke into second-floor apartment of the victim via an open window, rummaged through her home looking for valuables, then raped her in front of her three terrified children, police say.

By World Israel News Staff

A Bedouin-Israeli man, 22, was arrested in a Palestinian Authority-controlled municipality on Saturday on suspicion of breaking into the home of a mother-of-three and brutally raping her in front of her children.

In the early hours of Friday morning, a masked man broke into the second-floor apartment of the victim in the southern Israel city of Gedera.

Security footage from the apartment complex depicts a man wearing a mask and hooded sweatshirt attempting to gain access to the building by punching in codes on the keypad.

After repeatedly inputting the wrong codes, the man eventually climbs on top of a patio roof to reach an open window on the second floor.

Hebrew language media reported that the suspect entered the apartment at around 2:30 AM.

He bound the victim, who is 30 years old, rummaged through her house for valuables, and raped her in front of her three terrified children, according to the woman’s account of events.

Afterwards, the man calmly drank a beer from the victim’s refrigerator and then fled, the victim said.

Leaving the beer bottle behind was a “significant mistake by the suspect,” a police official told the media before the man was arrested. He added that the DNA evidence left on the bottle would be used to track him down.

The man, whom police described as being from a Bedouin town in the Negev desert, was arrested alongside six of his family members without incident on Saturday.

According to a police statement, all of the men arrested are Israeli citizens who work at a construction site in Gedera near the victim’s home.

It’s unclear why the men were captured in PA territory.

News of the sexual assault roiled residents of the city, who have long complained of police inaction after a string of unsolved break-ins the municipality. Hundreds of people gathered in front of the home of Gedera Mayor Yoav Gamliel, holding signs demanding action against crime in the community.

Gamliel appeared to side with the demonstrators and blamed the police in a media statement.

“We woke up this morning to news of a shocking incident that has shaken the entire Gedera community and the entire State of Israel. We are witnessing the price of police incompetence, which time and again has abandoned the citizens of Israel,” Gamliel said.

“We are at the forefront of the war on crime, yet we have received no response from the body entrusted with the enforcement of law and order. A situation in which innocent citizens are left to fight on their own against burglars, car thieves, illegal aliens and violent criminals is unacceptable.”

Police responded angrily to Gamliel’s statement, accusing him of exploiting the incident to “gain headlines and political capital on the back of a victim.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Gedera on Friday morning, pledging to the crowds of demonstrators that he would “do everything I can to restore a sense of security here.”

Arab crimeBedouinGederaNegevrapeSecurity