“What happened was a tragedy. This is a man with disabilities, with autism, unjustly suspected, and we expect it to be fully checked. We all join in the family’s grief — it encompasses the entire Israeli public as well as the entire Israeli government,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on June 7.
Netanyahu was referring to the killing of autistic Palestinian Iyad Halak at Jerusalem Old City’s Lions’ Gate nine days earlier on May 30. Netanyahu's political partner, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, had already addressed the killing a day after it happened, stating on May 31, “We apologize for the shooting; we will investigate the incident.’’ Gantz made his statement at the opening of the Cabinet’s weekly meeting, but Netanyahu said nothing at the time.
According to reports on June 8, an eyewitness has confirmed testimony given by Halak’s caregiver in which he said Halak was shot as he lay on the floor and that police officers were told at the time that Halak was disabled. Shortly after the killing, police said they had thought Halak was armed. Halak's family filed a petition last week to assure that the Justice Ministry’s Police Internal Investigations Department collects the CCTV footage from the incident and carries out a full investigation. They have already said they do not trust that the police and authorities will tell the truth or that justice will be served.
The killing sparked rage amid many Israelis. Jews and Arabs demonstrated against police brutality in Haifa and Jerusalem. The demonstrators took up the slogan of the anti-police brutality demonstrations in the United States, with signs saying "Palestinian lives matter." On June 6, thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square against Netanyahu’s annexation plan. But many of the participants also demonstrated against excessive violence by Israeli police against Palestinians. Expressing solidarity for protests across the globe following the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, many drew a line between violence by police in the United States and by Israeli forces.
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