Police arrested three workers at a private daycare in Ariel on Tuesday in a suspected case of abuse of toddlers, including the facility's director and two staff members.
The arrests follow an initial detention earlier in the day of a daycare aide suspected of committing serious abuse offenses against toddlers under her supervision, according to investigators from the Ariel station in the Samaria district of the Judea and Samaria police command.
The investigation opened after a complaint filed at the Ariel police station raised suspicion of violence and harm to toddlers unable to defend themselves. Detectives collected evidence including security camera footage from inside the daycare, which is being examined to establish the circumstances of the incidents and determine the involvement of all suspects.
Given the initial findings and immediate concern for the toddlers' safety, police worked with the Education Ministry to issue an administrative closure order for the private facility for 60 days under the Law on Supervision of Daycare Centers for Toddlers.
The first suspect arrested in the case was brought before the Petach Tikva Magistrate's Court, which granted the police request to extend her detention until October 22, 2026. Police are expected to bring the daycare director and the second worker before the court as well to request extensions of their detention for the investigation to continue.
Earlier in the day, police said in a statement: "Officers from the Ariel station in the Samaria district arrested overnight for questioning a suspect who works at a private daycare in the city, after a report was recently received regarding suspicion against her due to her conduct."
"As part of the investigation that opened recently, police investigators collected the security cameras installed in the daycare pursuant to a court order for the purpose of exhausting investigative actions. After substantial initial evidence of the suspicion was found, the worker was arrested overnight and transferred for questioning at the police station, and at its conclusion she was remanded. Later in the day she will be brought before the court for a hearing on her case, and the investigation of the incident is still ongoing."
In a video released by the police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Arik Mashiach, investigations officer at the Ariel station, addressed the case and emphasized the police's determination in handling the serious incident. Chief Inspector Mashiach said that following the complaint filed at the station, evidence was collected indicating the commission of the offenses, and that police are acting in coordination with the Education Ministry while implementing the supervision law. In his remarks, Chief Inspector Mashiach stressed that the Israel Police view with great severity any indication or suspicion of violence of any kind toward the helpless, particularly toward young toddlers, and will act with all tools at its disposal to bring those involved to justice, while showing maximum sensitivity and providing assistance to the parents of the children at the daycare.
