Police Arrest Ichilov Hospital Attackers

Police overnight Motzoei Shabbos said they had arrested several suspects who were involved in a violent attack on staff at Ichilov Hospital last week. The attack was captured on hospital security cameras, and footage showed the attackers assaulting numerous hospital personnel. A hospital security guard was seriously injured in the incident.

According to hospital officials, the five attackers came into the hospital in the early morning hours of last Thursday, apparently alerted by a family member that she was dissatisfied with the treatment she was getting at the hospital. The five entered the hospital, knocking down security personnel and grabbing the cell phone of a nurse. Three of the security guards were injured with various sprains and broken limbs in the assault. On their way out of the hospital, a security guard tried to halt the group before they could get away in a vehicle. He was badly beaten by the group, and was hospitalized in serious condition.

Police arrested one member of the group at the site of the attack, but the others managed to get away. The group are relatives from Kiryat Malachi, Haifa and Tel Aviv, but none were at home, having gone into hiding. Overnight Saturday, police said they had found several members of the group holed up in an apartment in Bat Yam, and had take them into custody.

Health Minister Rabbi Yaakov Litzman condemned the attack, saying that it was “a horrible crime of the type that must be rejected by society. Violence against hospital personnel is a dangerous and worrying phenomenon that threatens the security of workers. We cannot allow these attacks to continue. I call for greater enforcement of the law against these criminals, and increases in the amount and severity of the punishment against them.”