JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two Jewish suspects have been arrested in an attack on three Arab Israelis at a Haifa beach.
One of the suspects, 23, a resident of Nesher, located next to Haifa, on Saturday was ordered placed under house arrest for three days. The second suspect, 29, also of Nesher, was arrested on Saturday and appeared on Sunday in Haifa Magistrate’s Court where he also was ordered to house arrest.
The two suspects approached the victims, a doctor and two nurses in their 20s, and asked them if they were Arab before beating them in last week’s attack, which ultimately involved nine assailants, according to the victims. The Arab victims filed a report with police on Thursday following the attack the evening before.
Two other Jewish beach-goers stopped the attack and called police and an ambulance to help the Arab victims, who required medical attention for their injuries.
Yair Elalouf told Ynet on Sunday that if he and his friend hadn’t intervened the attackers “would’ve murdered them.”
He said he was disappointed that at least 80 people at the beach witnessed the attack and did not intervene or call police
Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday condemned the attack.
“We are all destined — not doomed — to live here together in this country, not doomed to live like this,” he said during a visit to the central Arab-Israeli town of Kafr Kassem.
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