Wonders never cease! An Israeli right-wing newspaper has finally named the author of the price tag attacks against Peace Now’s Jerusalem office and its senior staff member, Hagit Ofran. I was the sole media outlet which reported his name, Dor Oved, age 22, and that his father was a Shin Bet official and his mother a police officer. I did this two years ago.
Either Yisrael HaYom erred in breaking the gag and naming Oved, or a judge grew tired of the suspect’s repeated price tag attacks against peace activists and Palestinians, and lifted it. Bibiton has observed the journalistic taboo on reporting about intelligence officers and calls Oved’s father a “government worker” (how’s that for a euphemism?).
This time around he was nabbed by police after vandalizing Palestinian cars near the Shilo settlement. They also discovered the knives he used to slash tires.
Oved’s lawyer is none other than the infamous settler extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir, who denied the charges against his client, saying they were the result of a police vendetta against a known rightist.
Oved has spent little time in prison despite his repeated offenses. He is usually given a suspended sentence, reoffends, and is brought back to court where the cycle repeats–without serious punishment. This is the MO for the Israeli State in dealing with violent settler extremists. They hardly ever are convicted of crimes and sent to jail for extended terms. The exception to this is a case like Jack Teitel’s–but he killed Jews and Palestinians. A crucial difference from the garden variety settler pogromist, who usually restricts his rage to Palestinian victims.
Finally, the only reason there was a gag order in this case had nothing at all to do with the assailant or his crimes. It was solely meant to protect the parents, who are security personnel. Specifically, the father who is a Shabak agent. Even amongst the outrageous excesses of the national security state it’s unprecedented to protect an accused criminal solely because of his father’s identity.
