Jerusalem police arrest Arab who slapped Jews and posted assault on TikTok

Twenty-one-year-old from Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem had a friend film him slapping two Jews in the face before uploading the video to TikTok.

By World Israel News Staff

Police arrested a 21-year-old Arab man from the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina suspected of being the person in a video uploaded to social media who slapped two orthodox Jewish men in the face.

The video, uploaded to the account “abuwatan_1999,” shows two young orthodox Jewish men riding on the Jerusalem light rail when suddenly a man walks up and slaps them both across the face, knocking one of their hats off.

The suspect’s name was not released, but he was interrogated by police and brought to court Friday, where the judge was expected to remand him in custody.

Housing Minister Yakov Litzman of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism) condemned the attack, calling the attack “horrifying,” Arutz 7 reported.

“The footage of a youth being attacked on the light rail train in Jerusalem, by who seems to be a terrorist, is extremely horrifying,” Litzman said. “We cannot ignore this, and Israel Police must immediately arrest the attacker. Today it is an ostentatious slap, and tomorrow it might be a knife or a shooting. This attacker belongs in jail.”

Knesset member Amit Halevi of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party concurred, the report continued, saying the immediacy of the arrest “is no less important than the arrest itself,” Arutz-7 added.

“A hilltop youth who uploaded to social media a video of himself slapping an Arab would be arrested within minutes. If this young man is not arrested tonight, we can disband the Jerusalem police,” declared Religious Zionism MK Itamar Gvir.

The attack was also condemned by Knesset member Ofer Cassif, the Jewish member of the Joint Arab List, who said the incident constitutes “violence which arouses aversion” and racism, Arutz 7 reported.

“I wish to send support to the young man who was attacked, and I demand that this State fight, once and for all, against all types of racism and ensure that everyone has a safe space which is free of violence,” said Cassif, who himself was attacked by police last week during a demonstration in Jerusalem. An investigation into that incident is ongoing.