Police beat Arab prosecutor in his Be'er Sheva home and arrest him
Leaked body-camera footage contradicts police claims that they were assaulted
Josh Breiner
An Arab Israeli prosecu-tor was reportedly beaten severely by police who en-tered his Be'er Sheva apart-ment on Friday in response to a noise complaint by one of the three officers.
Na'ameh, Salah who works for the Southern Dis-trict Prosecutor's Office, underwent surgery for a broken nose and serious in-juries to his eye and kidneys following the incident.
Leaked body-camera footage from officers in-volved appears to show him
The truth about the police
Editorial, Page 5
not resisting arrest and be-ing struck by at least one of-ficer during the apartment raid, contradicting police claims that Na'ameh and his relatives assaulted officers.
The footage shows offi-cers entering the prosecu-tor's apartment and quickly overpowering him before handcuffing him. During the arrest, at least one of ficer appears to strike him while another can be heard shouting insults, further undermining the police ac-count that Na'ameh and his relatives attacked officers.
The raid was launched following a noise complaint filed by one of the officers
involved, who lives nearby. Police also detained two
of the man's relatives doctor and a nurse who work in the city's Soroka Medical Center. The three were held in custody for three days. The Justice Ministry's de partment for the investiga
Prosecutor Salah Na'ameh after being arrested by police officers, including one who is his neighbor. Na'ameh sustained serious injuries.
tion of police officers has opened an investigation into the officers involved in the incident.
According to Na'ameh's father, officers mocked his son during the arrest, telling
him in Arabic: "Congratula-tions on the beautiful face." Police said the three sus
pects were arrested after allegedly assaulting offi-cers. A magistrate's court in Be'er Sheva ruled there was
reasonable suspicion that officers had indeed been at tacked, but also noted that the man had suffered seri
ous injuries. The three relatives, represented by attorneys
Tomer Gonen, Ali Abu L ban and Tamer Asadi, tol investigators they had bee sitting on the apartment ba cony listening to music whe
See POLICE, Page 2
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Was this incident reported in any other news organisation in Israel? What was the response to this incident in Israel?
사진 속 인물은 이스라엘 남부 검찰청 소속의 공공 검사인 <살라 칼릴 파이살 나아메(Salah Khalil Faisal Na'ameh)>이다. 2026년 5월 1일에 발생한 이 사건은 <하아레츠(Haaretz)>뿐만 아니라 여러 이스라엘 및 국제 매체에서 비중 있게 보도되었다.
다른 언론사 보도 현황
<타임즈 오브 이스라엘 (The Times of Israel)>: 사건 초기부터 상세히 보도했다. 처음에는 "소음 신고로 출동한 경찰을 검사와 친척들이 공격했다"는 경찰 측 주장을 전했으나, 이후 하아레츠가 공개한 바디캠 영상을 인용하며 "영상이 경찰의 주장과 정면으로 배치된다"고 보도했다.
<채널 12 (Channel 12)>: 나아메 검사의 가족 인터뷰 등을 통해 경찰이 연행 과정과 경찰차 안에서도 폭행을 지속했다는 의혹을 보도했다.
<나스 라디오 (Nas Radio)>: 나사렛에 기반을 둔 이 매체는 나아메 검사의 부친인 칼릴 나아메의 증언을 보도하며 경찰의 가혹 행위를 비판했다.
이스라엘 내 반응
언론 및 여론: 공개된 바디캠 영상에서 나아메 검사가 문을 열자마자 경찰이 달려들어 폭행하는 장면이 확인되면서 큰 충격을 주었다. 특히 소음 신고라는 경미한 사안에 무장한 경찰이 헬멧과 마스크를 쓰고 급습한 점, 그리고 현직 검사임을 인지한 후에도 폭행이 이어졌다는 점에 분노가 일었다.
법조계: 남부 지검 동료 검사들은 나아메 검사의 평소 성품을 언급하며 경찰의 "공격설"을 강력히 부인했다. 법조계 내부에서는 이번 사건이 경찰과 검찰 사이의 신뢰 관계를 심각하게 훼손했다고 평가했다.
정치권 및 인권 단체: 아랍계 정치인들과 <아브라함 이니셔티브(Abraham Initiatives)> 같은 단체들은 이번 사건을 아랍계 시민에 대한 경찰의 고질적인 과잉 진압 및 인종 차별적 법 집행의 전형으로 규정했다. "피해자가 유대인이었어도 이렇게 했겠느냐"는 비판이 쏟아졌다.
수사 현황: 이스라엘 법무부 산하의 경찰 감찰국(DIPI, Machash)이 해당 사건에 대한 정식 수사에 착수했다. 사건에 연루된 경찰관 중 한 명은 나아메 검사의 이웃이었던 것으로 알려져 개인적인 감정이 개입되었을 가능성도 제기되었다.
이 사건은 당시 이스라엘 내에서 공권력 남용과 소수자에 대한 차별 문제를 동시에 보여주는 상징적인 사건으로 다뤄졌다.
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Yes. The incident was not confined to Haaretz. It was picked up by several other Israeli and regional outlets, especially after the leaked body-camera footage appeared to contradict the police account.
The most notable Israeli follow-up coverage came from The Times of Israel and a second related report The Times of Israel follow‑up article. The case was also discussed in Arab Israeli media and later circulated internationally through outlets such as The New Arab.
The basic facts repeated across reports were:
Salah Khalil Faisal Na’ameh, an Arab Israeli prosecutor in the Southern District Attorney’s Office, was badly injured during an arrest in Be’er Sheva.
Police initially claimed he and relatives assaulted officers.
Leaked footage appeared to show him not resisting at the moment of the severe beating.
He reportedly suffered a broken nose, eye injury, and kidney injuries.
The reactions inside Israel were sharply divided, though not entirely along simple “Jewish vs Arab” lines.
<1. Strong criticism from liberal, Arab, and civil-rights circles>
Arab Israeli politicians reacted furiously. Arab Knesset member Ahmad Tibi publicly accused the police of lying and described the incident as a “lynching” of a lawyer in his own apartment.
Some Jewish opposition politicians also condemned the violence. According to Times of Israel, MK Gilad Kariv said:
“No citizen should look like this after an encounter with police.”
He called for suspension of the officers involved.
Within the legal establishment, the case reportedly caused anger inside the Southern District Attorney’s Office itself. Colleagues reportedly believed Na’ameh’s version of events and were disturbed that a state prosecutor could be treated this way by police.
Human-rights lawyers and Arab advocacy groups connected the case to a broader pattern of aggressive policing toward Arab citizens of Israel, especially since the Gaza war atmosphere intensified tensions inside Israel.
<2. Police and right-leaning response>
The police did not immediately concede wrongdoing.
Their official position was still that officers had been attacked and resisted during the incident.
However, the release of the footage weakened the credibility of that narrative in much of the Israeli media discussion.
Among more nationalist/right-leaning sectors, reactions were more muted. There was less emphasis on ethnic discrimination and more focus on:
waiting for the investigation,
preserving police authority,
concern over anti-police rhetoric.
Unlike some previous police violence controversies in Israel, this case became harder to dismiss because:
the victim was not an unknown activist,
he worked for the state itself,
and the video evidence appeared unusually damaging.
<3. Institutional response>
Israel’s Department of Internal Police Investigations (Mahash / DIPI) reportedly opened an investigation.
This is important because in Israel many police-violence allegations do not receive sustained mainstream attention unless:
there is video evidence,
the victim is socially respectable,
or state institutions themselves are affected.
In this case, all three conditions existed.
<4. Broader significance in Israeli society>
The case touched several sensitive fault lines simultaneously:
Jewish–Arab relations inside Israel
trust in police
concerns about militarization and brutality after prolonged conflict
perceptions of “two-tier policing”
deterioration of liberal legal norms under wartime conditions
For liberal Israelis, the case became symbolic of fears that aggressive policing culture is spreading inward into Israeli society itself.
For many Arab citizens of Israel, however, the reaction was more cynical:
they argued that such treatment was already common for Arabs, but this case received attention mainly because the victim was an educated state prosecutor rather than an ordinary citizen.
That distinction appeared repeatedly in commentary surrounding the incident.
The newspaper image you shared itself became symbolically powerful because it came from Haaretz — a mainstream Israeli paper, not an external critic — and because the front-page framing openly questioned the police narrative.
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