Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer is due at Lahav 433 for questioning today (Sunday) on suspicion of assaulting police officers during a confrontation in Mitzpe Yericho, Arutz Sheva reported.
The clash erupted after a memorial ceremony for fallen IDF soldiers in Mitzpe Yericho. Kroizer gives a different account of what happened. He says he stepped in to defuse a standoff between officers and bereaved families, and that police then turned on him with excessive force. He alleges officers struck him, threw him to the ground and hit him with pepper spray.
Early last week, Kroizer went to the offices of the Police Internal Investigations Department (PIID) on his own initiative to lodge a complaint against the officers. He says he waited for close to four hours and was then turned away on orders that came "from above." he said his subsequent appeals to the Attorney General, the State Attorney and the PIID itself have not yet produced a formally recorded complaint. By contrast, he said, his own summons for questioning moved swiftly.
The lawmaker pledged to cooperate with investigators and stressed that he was not dodging the inquiry. He charged that political motives were driving the case and accused the authorities of trying to recast him from victim to suspect.
"I will appear for questioning with my head held high, cooperate, and not rest until the entire truth comes to light. I have nothing to hide, and I certainly will not be intimidated by the gang of criminals who are trying to turn the very act of standing up for my rights into grounds for a criminal investigation," Kroizer stated.
He also tied the investigation's timing to the upcoming elections. "All of this, miraculously, just a week and a half before the elections! The carefully timed and orchestrated timing, together with the disgraceful conduct, indicates an improper political attempt to turn the victim into a suspect and intimidate an elected official through the law enforcement system," he declared.
Once his questioning ends, Kroizer intends to return to the PIID, where he will demand that his complaint be formally logged and that investigators examine why he was blocked from filing it on his previous visit.
