Burka murder case: Police make sixth attempt to keep suspect in prison

Police have turned to the Israeli courts Thursday for the sixth time in three days in an attempt to keep Elisha Yered, 22, in jail while they investigate his involvement in the shooting death of Qusai Jamal Ma’atan, 19, during clashes outside the West Bank village of Burka on August 4. 

"The State Attorney's Office and the General Security Service are pursuing Elisha Yered,” charged attorney Avichay Hajbi who is representing suspects in the case on behalf of the right-wing legal defense organization Honenu. 

“Such behavior does not befit the authorities in a democratic country,” he said.

Yered's arrest and release 

Yered was released to house arrest on Wednesday night, but only after police had appealed such an order once to the High Court of Justice, twice to the Magistrates Court, and twice to the Jerusalem District Court.

With each appeal, the initial order that he could be freed to house arrest was delayed.

Already yesterday District Court Judge Tamar Bar-Asher said that “the ‘ping-pong’ that is being done with the detainees in general and [Yered] in particular should be stopped.”

She added that “detainees have rights, even those suspected of serious crimes.”

Police had held Yered in custody since Friday's clash between settlers and Palestinians because he removed the gun from the scene of the shooting.

Yehiel Indore, who pulled the trigger, has claimed he did so in self-defense, only after Palestinians hit him in the head with a stone. He underwent four hours of surgery for a skull fracture and is still in the hospital, under police custody until Friday at noon.

Police have asked the High Court of Justice to return Yered to custody based on information contained in a rolling secret intelligence file, that was introduced as part of the case on Tuesday night, after the matter had been adjudicated before two different judges.

Attorney Adi Kidar, also from Honenu called on the High Court of Justice to “reject the request outright without holding a hearing on the issue.”

Scarcity of evidence 

The scarcity of concrete evidence regarding the attack has allowed both settlers and the Palestinians to claim victimhood. Settlers have argued that the incident began when Palestinians attacked a Jewish shepherd herding his flock near Burka on Friday evening. Palestinians have contended that the settlers had intended to attack their village in a style akin to some of the other violence that has been perpetrated against their communities in the last months.

The relentless pursuit by police to keep Yered behind bars, however, has shifted the focus from the issue of settler and Palestinian violence to legal matters surrounding the case.  

Judges adjudicating the case have noted that the evidence presented so far with respect to murder charges does not justify requests to hold the suspects in custody.

Ben-Asher said that from the moment the case was sent to her the police conduct with respect to the case had been “disorganized and unclear.”