Israeli officer who assaulted Palestinian man resigns

The Israeli police officer who was caught on video violently assaulting and injuring several Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem last month has resigned, Israeli news website Ynet reported yesterday.

Ynet identified the police officer as Moshe Cohen, saying that he resigned at a hearing held at the National Headquarters of Israel Police after his attorney apologised on his behalf.

The news site quoted Cohen’s attorney as saying:

The officer takes full responsibility and announced his resignation from the police at the beginning of the hearing. He expressed real and deep regret and this is his opportunity to apologise to the citizen and tens of thousands of officers.

An indictment was also filed against Cohen, accusing him of a series of violent offenses, Ynet reported.

The video of the incident, which took place in the Wadi Joz neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem, showed Cohen, dressed in plainclothes, verbally confronting a Palestinian truck driver – later identified as 50-year-old Mazen Rafaat Shweiki – after the latter allegedly hit the officer’s car.

Read more: Israeli cop assaults and humiliates Palestinian labourer

Over the course of the nearly two-minute long video, Cohen proceeded to headbutt, slap, punch, kick and knee Shweiki in the lower abdomen. Shweiki told Ma’an that he sustained fractured ribs following the assault.

Ahmad Al-Tawil, a 26-year-old Jerusalemite who witnessed the violent incident, told Ma’an that Shweiki was starting up his vehicle when Cohen, dressed in civilian clothing with a gun on his belt, went up to the truck driver and started berating him.

Al-Tawil said that he tried to intervene once Cohen began assaulting Shweiki, only for Cohen to hit him several times in the head and stomach, injuring Al-Tawil in the eye.

The video then goes on to show at least two other Israeli police officers arriving at the scene, before the first officer violently kicks Shweiki in the back as he attempts to enter his vehicle.

Al-Tawil said that three Israeli special forces officers arrived at the scene at the time when the video cut off, and assaulted Palestinian men, pulling their guns on them while the first Israeli officer went on to assault Shweiki.