Yakobov Interviewed by Maariv: ‘What’s All the Fuss?’

Avi Yakobov, the IDF abuser of Palestinian prisoner, Ihsan Dababseh, pictured in a YouTube video, has finally thought better of threatening Israeli reporters with a pistol and given an actual interview (Hebrew).  Naturally, he spoke with Maariv, one of Israel’s most right-wing papers.  The abuser’s ability to excuse and justify his behavior is prodigious.  And his lies and evasions are worth reading:

In my opinion, I committed no crime. Maybe I degraded her, yes, but it’s not a crime. The way they treat me you’d think I was a war criminal.  It was minor thing. They say I belly danced. What is it? Just a stupid dance.”

Yakobov doesn’t understand what all what the commotion is about. “That day, the desk sergeant asked me to take over for him and guard her. They told me they arrested her because she tried to stab a soldier. I was alone and a friend joined with the phone. He suggested the idea and told me ‘I have Arabic music on my phone, let me video you with her.”

“It was to make a record of it and show friends that they’d arrested her for attempting to stab a soldier. I refused at first but he persisted.  Finally I said: ‘Come on.'”

“At one point the soldier who was with me removed the cap on her head.  I didn’t have time to respond.  At that moment, the deputy brigade commander came upon us. I was sentenced and received 21 days in prison [a soldier who served in his unit disputes this claim saying he was sentenced in a different incident while being drunk on duty]. When he brought me to trial I knew it was wrong…I do not think I degraded her because she did not see what was happening, her eyes were covered. No one in this world would know it was her. She hurt herself when she revealed she was the victim.”

This incident happened out of momentary euphoria over the arrest of a terrorist who tried to stab and murder one of our soldiers. My divisional commander punished me and I accepted the punishment with understanding and respect. I’m sorry this network and how it was done by using the disturber of Israel.

[The reporter asks] Do you wish to ask her forgiveness?

“What and why?  Because the media blew it out of proportion?  Just as she thinks I was wrong to dance around her, she was wrong to try to stab a soldier. If we make a comparison between us and the Palestinians, I think I’d be happy if in the worst situation they would take our captives and belly dance for a minute and a half, rather than beat her or kill her as Palestinians know so well how to do and have done always.”

Do you understand the criticism against you?

“I can understand how it looks. It was a moment of folly, something small…The details released are lies: We weren’t drunk and did not engage in violence. She asked for water and we even brought her cold water and let her drink. Then she said it was wine.”

Yedioth Ahronoth published a story saying that Yakobov threatened a reporter and showed him the gun. In a conversation with “Ma’ariv” he claim that this isn’t true.

“That’s a lie. It wasn’t me. I was at work. My brother did this. It hurts me. People come to me to the store and recognize me. It hurts me in terms of work and it is really a bad movie. People look at you differently.

It should be noted that there is absolutely no proof other than Yakobov’s word that she was accused of trying to stab a soldier.  In fact, she was tried and convicted of belonging to Islamic Jihad and served time in prison.  But she was neither accused of nor convicted for an attempted stabbing.

The lie about not being at his own apartment when a Yediot reporter asked for an interview is also amazing.  His picture is all over the internet.  Does he think the Yediot reporter wouldn’t recognize him when he saw him?

And don’t you just feel terrible for the guy to have all his customers and neighbors know he’s an abuser of women?  Too bad Maariv didn’t ask him about all the other horrid things he published about women and drinking on his Facebook Wall.