(JTA) — An Israeli man was indicted for assaulting with a wooden board a police officer who tried to stop him from attacking a terrorist.
Robert Fedida, 46, allegedly attacked policeman Michael Pinhas on Monday shortly after a Palestinian man who stabbed a 70-year-old man in Netanya was arrested and handcuffed, the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday. Fedida, who was one of several people who went after the 22-year-old Palestinian stabber, was charged in Petach Tikva Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
Fedida tried to beat the terrorist with the wooden board at the same time the police were trying to keep the crowd away from him, and after police tried to stop him, Fedida hit Pinhas in the face, inflicting a 4.5-centimeter-long cut that required emergency room treatment.
“We’re aware of the desire to express protest but any citizen who breaks the law will encounter zero tolerance and full law enforcement,” Sharon District police commander Brig. Gen. Kobi Shabtai told Haaretz.
According to Haaretz, Fedida has been convicted and imprisoned in the past for drug offenses, harassing a witness and carrying a knife.
