“Orian Khalifa was previously recorded hitting Jewish girls while they were taking part in a march around the Old City gates, but then the internal Police Investigations Department closed the case,” Shai Glick, head of human rights NGO Bezalmo told World Israel News.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
A Border Police officer was handed a suspended sentence Tuesday and ordered to pay compensation to a young Palestinian woman due to a violent incident in Jerusalem in November 2021.
Orian Ben Khalifa was convicted of assault for pushing and hitting Hala Salim when the 25-year-old repeatedly demanded to get through a police blockade at the Lion’s Gate entrance of the Old City together with her family.
“The accused was quick to use force, although at that stage she did not have the authority to do so,” the verdict stated. “She also cursed the complainant, knocked her to the floor and tried to grab her hands to stop her, while the complainant resisted arrest.”
After Salim was brought to the police station, the court noted, the officer shook her by the neck and told to “shut up” when she broke into tears. It was this second round of violence, not the original actions outside, that brought the sentence to 12 months’ suspended sentence and an NIS4,000 shekel fine, half of which was to be paid to Salim for her light injuries.
“A police officer entrusted with upholding the law is expected to be an example and a role model,” said Judge Scapa-Shapira at the hearing. “With restrained behavior … this incident could have been prevented in the first place.”
Ben Khalifa initially told investigators that the Arab woman had been chanting incitement during the incident, saying such things as, “This is our land, our country.” The officer denied having gotten into a physical altercation and continued to insist on her innocence in court.
The Border Police initially considered internal disciplinary action, and Ben Khalifa was temporarily suspended from the force. She was then reaccepted, but put into a different position. Officials had said that it would be inappropriate to remove her from service completely because this would lead to their fighters feeling that they do not receive the support they need in the face of the violence and terrorism they face.
Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir came out against the judge, saying, “It’s strange that the judge who acquitted a police officer who punched an ultra-orthodox boy, and claimed that it should be understood that ‘he does not work under laboratory conditions,’ did not take into account the fact that the female fighter also did not work under laboratory conditions.”
Shai Glick, head of the Bezalmo NGO that campaigns for human rights and against anti-Jewish discrimination, criticized the verdict from a different angle.
“Orian Khalifa was previously recorded hitting Jewish girls while they were taking part in a march around the Old City gates, but then the internal Police Investigations Department closed the case and nothing was done about it,” he told World Israel News. “If only every police officer who did the same thing to Jews was also punished in this way. Police violence is simply unacceptable.”
Ben Khalifa was acquitted of other, more serious charges, such as obstruction of justice and aggravated assault, with the court also taking into account her good record.
Her attorney said that after reviewing the verdict in full, they would file an appeal because “there is no doubt that the evidence cries out for an acquittal.”