The Justice Ministry's Police Internal Investigations Department has decided not to press charges against an officer who was involved in the deadly clash with a young Israeli Arab man in November 2014. Kheir ad-Din al-Hamdan, a resident of Kafr Kanna in northern Israel, was shot to death following a violent exchange with officers who had arrived to arrest his neighbor. His death sparked violent protests in the Arab community. The decision not to prosecute the officer, which was made together with the State Attorney's Office, follows a lengthy investigation that scrutinized the video footage of the incident, the evidence on the scene and the re-enactments. The investigators, who relied on expert analysis and eyewitness accounts (including that of residents of the area and the deceased's family) concluded that the officer acted appropriately. According to Justice Ministry officials, the police arrived at the village to arrest a man who was suspected of throwing a grenade. Hamdan apparently taunted the officers when they were about to approach the suspect's home. He did not heed their orders to clear the area and even approached them. According to the investigators, he ran toward their car while wielding a large kitchen knife whose length exceeded 10 inches, all the while chanting "Allahu akbar" ("God is great" in Arabic). Video footage show him hitting the police car's windows with the knife and attempting to open the door. One of the officers stormed out of the car and fired a shot in the air, but Hamdan was undeterred and hit the window of the car. Another officer then exited the car and pointed the gun at Hamdan, who walked backward. Despite being told repeatedly to drop the weapon, he refused to do so. The investigators said the whole incident lasted no more than 13 seconds. They added that the nature of the altercation required fast thinking, and despite the bad judgement, there was no criminal wrongdoing on the part of the officers. They added that the officer who shot Hamdan was the driver, and not, as the video mistakenly depicts, the person who emerged from the passenger seat. According to the analysis of the video, the officer fired his gun without fully exiting the car, knowing full well that even though Hamdan had already begun disengaging them, he still posed a threat to the other officer who had left the vehicle. Joint Arab List MK Yusef Jabareen said the Justice Ministry's decision was outrageous. "There were tainted political considerations involved. This decision is not surprising. The decision dovetails with the trigger-happy policy toward the Israeli Arab citizens," he said.
