Israeli Officer Fired for Beating Ethiopian

By JTA May 13, 2015

The Israeli police officer who was caught on video beating an Ethiopian-Israeli soldier was fired.

Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino made the announcement Wednesday at Netanya Academic College, the Hebrew-language Ynet news website reported.

The dismissal comes two days after a dismissal hearing with police officials.

“He had a lot of arguments, and we had an in-depth discussion on this issue, along with the legal counsel, the discipline department, the attorney general and head of human resources. After the hearing, everyone decided that he should be dismissed from the police,” Danino said.

It is not known what will happen to a second police officer seen in the video, Ynet reported.

The beating was one of the catalysts for Ethiopian-Israeli protests against police brutality and racism that turned violent in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Ethiopian-Israeli activists had called for the officer’s dismissal. The activists also called for the release without charges of the activists arrested last week in Tel Aviv, a demand that Danino rejected.

Ethiopian-Israeli activists will hold another rally in Tel Aviv against racism and police brutality on Monday afternoon, Ynet reported.

On Monday night, several hundred activists held a peaceful rally in Haifa.

“We are a brave generation, members of the Ethiopian community, we are demanding justice for our community and we will not rest until we receive it,” activists wrote on social networks, according to Ynet. The activists called on “every person who believes in equal rights and justice” to attend the Tel Aviv rally.

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