"I have no weapon to defend myself, help me, rescue me" | Asaf Levy, a retired police officer, was attacked by rioters

Assaf Levy, 55 years old from Kiryat Ata, was attacked yesterday around 23:00 pm (2021\05\13) at the entrance to Acre, by about 50 Arab rioters. As a result, he suffers from facial swelling and dizziness, a broken nose for which he will have to undergo surgery at Rambam next week. Levy claims that there were no policemen at the scene and no one came to his aid, even though the policemen were within 150 meters of him.

Levy is a retired police officer and served in the Israel Police for 22 years. He worked as a detective and as a traffic policeman and also as a counter-terrorism commander. Over the years he had the opportunity to witness the riots in Jerusalem and because of his experience, he criticizes the frightening situation he found himself in yesterday.

Levy was driving yesterday from Manhariya, when on Route 4 a car tried to enter him head-on at a speed of 150 km/h. When he arrived at the entrance to Acre, he noticed burning tires and stones on the road. Suddenly, about 50 young men appeared in front of him with clubs and stones and shouted in Arabic "Jew, Jew" Within a second, they put the batons into the open window and gave Levy blows on the head and face. As a result, he suffered a broken nose, a large swelling in the head, damage to the jaw, teeth and pain in the shoulder.

Assaf Levy, retired police officer from Kiryat Ata:

I locked myself in the car. Someone came from the left with a branch and gave a serious blow to the head, nose and face. I felt dizzy and then I received another blow to my right shoulder and neck. I saw that the situation was getting worse, that they were throwing stones at the car and made a kind of attack on me, they came behind me and came in front of me and to my right. I saw that stones were thrown at the car. I gave gas and got on the tires and ran away. I arrived at two traffic vehicles and while doing so I called the police hotline, who said they had called the police. The traffic police officer told me to drive away. I drove in fear, like a madman, all wounded, to the house in Kiryat Ata. I didn't know what to do, I was panicked and scared. I called intensive care and was taken to a hospital. Now I'm dizzy, I'm scared and traumatized and next week I'm scheduled for nose surgery because it's broken.

Regarding the police, Levy says:

The police should have been present at this place and not standing 200 meters away. Maybe they didn't have the tools to use them or were afraid to approach them. They did nothing and I had to pull myself out. In my opinion, the police have become cowards and are not doing their job. You are a security man, you have a weapon. I have no weapon to defend myself, so come and help me, rescue me. I am an ordinary citizen now and there were other helpless citizens. The road was blocked with tires all around and no one came to help me when the rioters hid in the dark and suddenly surprised me.

Levy says that two more people were injured by the rioters and came to intensive care at Nahariya Hospital. Due to his medical condition, Levy was unable to file a complaint with the police, but the entire time during the attack he spoke to the police hotline on the phone, who asked for his phone number to call him back and said they had sent troops.

The Israel Police gave Lahi Pa in response:

In recent days, thousands of police officers have been operating in dozens of centers of very violent riots, which include throwing stones, throwing Molotov cocktails, burning tires, setting fire to buildings and shooting at police officers, in the city of Acre and in the Hoof District sector. The police activity is tense from end to end and all the police officers work in a special format for many hours, and we make every effort to reach all the centers quickly.