Shai Peretz, who had served as a mounted police officer around two years ago, was indicted on Thursday for attacking protester Yael Reuveni.
The incident took place in April 2023, during the anti-judicial reform protests in Tel Aviv. She was repeatedly whipped by Peretz.
Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court Judge Eitan Kornhauser took stock of the nuanced and complicated jobs of the policemen in the Thursday indictment, writing that it was “probably aggravated by physical, emotional and mental exhaustion from the nonstop work. There is no doubt that the job of policemen is difficult and challenging.”
However, he said, “this does not excuse blurring the boundaries of use of force. This blurring, this entry into a grey area between what is and is not allowed, crossing from something that serves as a warning and an act that is criminal - could severely damage the police's functionality and the public's trust in it.”
He added, “Acting within the bounds of the law while protecting civil rights is critical to our national security. Without protecting these rights, the social contract between civilians and the state.”
'I didn't do anything to him'
The Justice Ministry’s Police Investigation Department investigated Peretz after the incident. He said he wasn’t guilty, but was indicted on Thursday based on evidence.
In his interrogation, according to quotes published by Haaretz, Peretz was asked why he whipped Reuveni. He said he felt she endangered him because her actions made him afraid he would lose control of his horse – which endangered not only him, but those around him.
“I have control of the horse, but it is not absolute. At the end of the day, it is an animal and has unpredictable behavior. It is a miracle that this didn’t end with a 600 kg. [horse running] into the crowd.”
In footage from the incident, Reuveni was holding up a sign. The mounted policeman was right in front of her.
The horse stepped on her leg, and then Peretz struck her with the reins. Around them, protesters shouted, “Shame,” “Who raised you?” and “You're hitting women.”
The PID's investigation at the time found that Peretz rode towards Reuveni, who, in defense, put out her hand to stop the horse's advances. When this didn't work, she tried to put the sign between her and the horse.
The investigation further said that Reuveni began to walk towards the area that police instructed protesters to go to, but that Peretz continued after her. That was when the horse stepped on her right foot, sabotaging her attempts to walk. It was at this point that he struck her with his reins, twice.
Reuveni tried to shield herself with the sign, until it eventually fell away. He then continued to hit her, per the PID investigation.
Kornhauser wrote in the indictment on Thursday that the incident was filmed from various angles, and that some of those who filmed testified to what they saw. “The initial contact between Reuveni and Peretz can be seen, where she pushed the horse and raised her hand. She then took seven steps away, at which point the horse stepped on her right foot, and the sign in her hand hit the horse's head. Peretz then struck the sign twice, and at her head once.”
He added, “After that initial contact with the sign, Peretz turned his horse 180 degrees and struck the sign again, which may have renewed that contact with the horse's head. He then hit Reuveni, but the sign was already under the horse's feet.”
Reuveni, after the attack in 2023, said, “I was on Ayalon. We started to walk back up [away from the highway]. Suddenly, a mounted police officer pushed me, while another one stood in front of me, caging me between them.
“He then started hitting me. I didn't do anything to him. I tried to move, and he blocked me with another mounted cop, and the horse stepped on me. They both started to hit me. This was a complete ambush.”
She said that they hit her hand, which had been injured in a car accident a few months earlier.
“It felt like he was looking for a way to unload,” she said at the time. “I was disappointed. As someone who took riding courses with the police and knows the profession, I felt that the abuse of power was horrifying.”
Peretz said that during the whole legal process, he felt he was being persecuted, and warned that his indictment could have a “chilling effect” where policemen would think twice before fulfilling their duties. The court said that the result of this particular case cannot be dependent on the potential of a future chilling effect, nor to take it into account. “The line has to be very clear: Policemen need to know that if they break the law and use their power in a dishonest way, especially if it is violent, they won't receive backing from the legal system.”
Eve Young contributed to this report.