Police Officer Killed in Negev Clash with Security Forces; Arab MK Wounded

January 18, 2017

3 min read

Sergeant Major Erez Levi, 34 years old, of the Israel police  was killed during clashes between security forces and residents of an unrecognized Bedouin encampment in the Negev Desert, along with another person who carried out a vehicle attack according to police spokesperson. Several people were injured, among them MK Ayman Odeh (Joint List).

The altercation began when IDF and police forces arrived at the Umm al-Hiran encampment, near the city of Houra, to carry out demolition orders and to evict the residents. As they arrived, a man, apparently a resident of the encampment and a member of the Islamic Movement tried to run over the forces with his car. He was shot and killed.

Odeh suffered wounds to his head and back, but there were conflicting reports about the origin of the injury. Magen David Adom reported that he had been hit by a rock, but media reports indicated that he may have been struck by a sponge-tipped bullet.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Wikimedia Commons)

The village has a history of legal battles with the Israeli government and has long been the scene of clashes. The site was founded by the Abu Al Qian family in 1956 after being resettled to the area by the IDF and the military government at the time. According to Regavim, the family numbered approximately 50 people at the time, but has grown more than 500 percent over the past two decades.

The clan was never given ownership of the land, but the government has offered the group 800 square meter plots in the nearby city of Houra, a Bedouin town built by the government in 1989 to provide homes for residents of unrecognized villages. Umm al-Hiran residents have rejected the offer, and In 2015 the Supreme Court ruled by a 2-1 margin that the village should be demolished.

In response to the clash, Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan said the incident was a “tragic event” for Israel. “A terrorist belonging to the Islamic Movement raced toward our forces in order to kill as many police officers as he could, even prior to the evacuation of the village.”

Erdan also sharply  criticized Odeh’s presence there, which Erdan said was intended to incite violence.

“I hope that this day will not become a turning point in relations between the Bedouin and state authorities. But if it does, MK Odeh will have contributed greatly. Government officials and local authorities [of the Bedouin village] have been negotiating for weeks, but MK Ayman Odeh was not party to them. He was only there to inflame passions and incite violence.”

Erdan promised that the Supreme Court decision to demolish the village will be implemented. “Violence and terror will not win over the rule of law,” he said.

Regavim, an Israeli NGO whose mission is “to ensure responsible, legal, accountable & environmentally friendly use of Israel’s national lands and the return of the rule of law to all areas and aspects of the land and its preservation,’ said violence during the evacuation was “the result of incitement by extremist Islamic elements, Arab Knesset members from the Joint List and extreme leftist groups which work day-and-night to disrupt the rule of law in the Negev.

“The Bedouin community must condemn the rotten elements in its midst. This is a red signpost and outcry to the Bedouin public to move quickly and act against Islamic extremism that has been running rampant over the past few years. We urge the Israeli government and law enforcement authorities to open a criminal investigation [into this incident], to bring the perpetrators to justice, and to continue to enforce the rule of law in the Negev.”

A police spokesman said that security forces have started demolishing the illegal buildings at Umm al-Hiran, on Wednesday morning. Security forces are protecting Civil Administration teams and the work is reportedly proceeding without further disturbances.

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