Haredi Man accused of spitting at 'immodest' women

The suspect in court  

22 year old from Jerusalem arrested for suspected assault, intimidation after he allegedly spat at two young women who he claims were not dressed 'modestly' enough. Family claims it is simply neighborhood quarrel

A 22-year-old young man from Jerusalem was arrested on Monday for assault and intimidation after he allegedly spat at two young women who he claims were not dressed modestly enough. The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court extended the man's remand by three days.

Police claim that Chananya Rabinovitz assaulted at least two women. One incident occurred six weeks ago at the Bar Ilan neighborhood in Jerusalem. The second incident also occurred several weeks ago.

 

The suspect was brought before the Magistrate's Court on Monday and a police representative stated that two complaints were filed on Sunday, but he refused to give any details.

Attorney Yair Nahorai, who is representing the defendant, said that police have known about the complaints for quite a while. It was then revealed that the man was summoned for questioning on May 20 but only came to the station on Sunday where he was then arrested.

He expressed his surprise over the fact that police claim that he is dangerous even though he had been free to come and go as he pleases ever since he was summoned for questioning. At the end of the hearing Justice Hagit Mak-Kalmanovitz remanded the suspect and ruled that there were concerns over possible disruptions of proceedings and coordinating stories with additional people.

Coexistence

The suspect's family said that this was a case of a neighborhood quarrel. The suspect's uncle told Ynet: "It is regretful that this entire story is happening while the matter of the exclusion of women (from the public sphere) is making front pages and police are taking advantage (of the story). This is a pitiful neighborhood quarrel which, if it were any other case, the police would take no notice of."

The suspect's mother Raizi Rabinovitz also believes the matter was taken out of proportion: "My son did not spit on the neighbor, she spat on him and constantly yells 'it's a shame the Nazis didn't kill you'. I filed a complaint against her. We live in a state of co-existence. That same neighbor wants revenge and is using the exclusion of women to get revenge. It's what goes today."

Rabinovitz's wife added: "There is no way my husband hit or spat on women. He doesn't hit women and he doesn't spit on them."

The attorney concluded: "It is regretful that police have failed to present the court with accurate information, while the complaint was known to them for six weeks, nothing was done. And now, under the disguise of 'danger to the public', and after he presented himself at the police station of his own accord, he is shown before the court as a dangerous criminal."