Four Israelis indicted on terror charges for firing flares at PM Netanyahu's residence

Four Israelis, held on suspicion that they fired marine flares at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private Caesarea residence, were indicted Monday on charges of an act of terror of recklessness with fire and attempted arson.

Rear-Admiral Ofer Doron (res.) (63), who served as the commander of the Space Division at Israel Aerospace Industries, his son Gal (27), Ittay Yaffe (62), and Amir Sade (62) were indicted, and the prosecutor asked to extend their arrest until the conclusion of legal proceedings against them.

On November 16, the four arrived in two cars and scanned the deployment of police and security in the area "in order to ensure that they would be able to evade them," the indictment said.

From there, they approached the house, avoiding police and security cameras, it added.

The four are accused of firing the marine flares from a distance of approximately 270 meters away from the prime minister's house. Gal Doron and Yaffe are accused of firing the flares while coached by Offer Doron, who documented this on his phone.

Omer and Sade were aware that the prime minister was not home at the time they participated in the firing of the marine flares, according to the indictment.

The accused did this "in a reckless manner that could endanger human life or cause injury, motivated by ideological or political reasons," the indictment said.

They did this in order "to send a message to the prime minister and the public that the protest activity in Caesarea has not ceased, with the aim of creating a cumulative effect of significant pressure on the prime minister, which they believe will ultimately advance the protest's objectives."

They did this while aware that their actions could almost certainly cause a fire in a populated area or near the prime minister's residence, according to the indictment.

After firing the flares, the suspects discarded the gloves they were wearing and the remnants of the flares into bushes before leaving the area. Once learning that a police checkpoint had been set up at the exit from Ceasarea, the suspects split up and waited for the police to leave at two separate homes, the indictment said.

Gal and Ofer Doron are also accused of coordinating their stories, planning to tell police that Ofer, rather than his son Gal, was the one who fired the flare.

'Moked Caesarea'

The four are active in the protest organization "Moked Caesarea," which protests outside the prime minister's home, according to the indictment.

The indictment also said that Ofer Doron and Sade, two leaders in the protest movement, were summoned for a meeting with Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) officials in September and warned not to fire pyrotechnics at the prime minister's home.

The marine flares that the suspects are accused of firing can cause serious injury if they directly hit someone, the indictment stated. 

Gonen Ben Itzhak, a lawyer from the Legal Aid for Protesters organization who is representing three of those accused, responded to the indictment, saying that the State Attorney is falling in line with the judicial reform.

"I think we are facing a new era," he said, highlighting that the State Attorney chose to submit terror charges against leaders of the protest when it is clear that similar offenses [of use of pyrotechnics] have happened previously.

"By the way, pyrotechnics are also used at soccer games," he added, stressing that similar offenses have not reached indictments on acts of terror in the past.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel asked the State Attorney to reconsider the indictment, saying that it disproportionately harms freedom of protest.

The ACRI emphasized that it does not represent the accused but is turning to the State Attorney due to concern over the "harsh implications on freedom of protest in Israel stemming from the enforcement authorities' behavior on the incident."

"Freedom of protest is a fundamental right in a democratic society, and the use of criminal law and security services against demonstrators, in an attempt to suppress protests against the government or imprison protesters, is characteristic of oppressive regimes. The effort to label protesters as terrorists is also a hallmark of regimes we do not wish to emulate," "the ACRI said. 

The organization stressed that the description from the indictment of an incident could be used to describe many protests at which loud noises and fireworks are used and fires area sometimes set. 

"let us remember that every protest has a 'political-ideological motive,'" the organization added, stressing that "every protest is intended 'to create a cumulative effect of significant pressure on the prime minister, which, in their view, will ultimately advance the protest's objectives.'"

Ittay Doron, Ofer Doron's son and Gal's brother, responded to the indictment saying that attaching a terror motive to an act of protest sets a dangerous precedent.

"We all, as a society, should be worried by this," he said, adding that he is confident that the justice system will bring the truth to light - that the incident was an act of protest and certainly not terror or an arson attempt.

Ittay said that "political elements are pressuring the law enforcement system in order to create a watershed," adding that "we should be concerned by this because paring protest and terror is straight out of the playbook of autocracies around the world."

Ittay highlighted that the prosecutor and Shin Bet had all said that there was no intention by the accused to hurt people or property.

Ittay called the indictment a step too far, saying it was "an attempt to create a facade and an example in order to deter others."

Galia Doron, Ofer's mother, spoke to Channel 13 on Monday after the State Attorney announced what Sunday's indictment would say, saying she is sure that lat month's indictment of Netanyahu's aide Eliezer Feldstein, the main suspect in the PMO leak scandal, impacted the determination of the charges against the four. 

"I think there is an attempt at holy balance," she said explaining that she thinks the State Attorney sees the incident as "fruit ripe for the picking" to make it seem that they are charging people on both "sides" with serious crimes.