The commander of the Hadera police station, Chief-Superintendent Amit Pollak, and the commander of the Special Patrol Unit, Senior-Staff-Sergeant Major Eran Keslassi, have been ordered to compensate two demonstrators in a sum totaling NIS 30,000, the Hadera Magistrate’s Court ruled on Wednesday.
The ruling followed a civil lawsuit filed by the demonstrators, who alleged they were assaulted during a protest in Caesarea. The lawsuit proceeded after the State Attorney’s Office waived the officers’ immunity following a recommendation by Judge Yaakov Goldberg.
According to the ruling, Pollak, Keslassi, and the Israel Police are to pay NIS 30,000 to the demonstrators and to attorney Adam Seri, who represented them through the protest detainees’ support network. The claim also noted that the police and the Interior Ministry failed to cooperate with Seri and withheld the officers’ details, complicating the filing of the lawsuit.
Last week, the Police Investigation Department (PID) filed an indictment against Pollak for allegedly assaulting another citizen during a separate event in Caesarea and for obstruction of justice. The indictment states that Pollak ordered the forced removal of a truck carrying a political display, allegedly assaulted one of the demonstrators by grabbing his neck, and ordered the officers to arrest him.
Allegations of heavy-handed conduct
The incident occurred in December 2023 near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Caesarea. The demonstrators — Dganit Schatz, 62, of Hadera, and David Masad, 73, of Kibbutz Ma’ayan Zvi — claimed they were arrested without justification and held in custody for many hours, in violation of their constitutional rights. Schatz alleged that Pollak pushed her forcefully and yelled, “You won’t tell me ‘shame,’” before instructing officers to arrest her.
According to Schatz, Pollak ordered the officers to arrest her without explanation. They allegedly forced her to the ground, grabbed her by all four limbs, and carried her into the patrol car “like an object” in front of other demonstrators, humiliating her.
The claim also states that when defense attorney Orit Shalev tried to consult with Schatz privately, the officers refused and threatened to arrest the lawyer. Schatz was later questioned over offenses she claimed she did not commit, and she alleged that false accusations were made against her. She subsequently filed a complaint with the PID.
Masad, who was standing on the sidewalk and witnessed Schatz’s arrest, claimed he was pushed by Keslassi after he protested the incident. He was later arrested, held at the station for about an hour and a half, and questioned on what he called false suspicions.
‘It’s delightful that the police are contributing to our donations.’
The officers argued that they acted lawfully and arrested the demonstrators after they themselves allegedly acted violently. Schatz and Masad denied the allegations. During a pretrial hearing, Goldberg reviewed video footage of the incident before ruling that Pollak, Keslassi, and the Israel Police must pay compensation.
A statement from the protest detainees’ support network said: “For the sake of clarity, the legal fees will be donated to the detainees’ support network. It’s delightful that the Israel Police and its officers are contributing to our donations.”