Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Thursday ordered the Israel Police to launch a criminal investigation against Jonathan Pollak, a radical left-wing activist, over alleged incitement to violence and terrorism.
The suspicions against Pollak arouse following a column he had written for Haaretz daily's Hebrew online edition, where he is also employed.
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The piece, which Haaretz stated was published prior to editing by mistake, was titled "Why I refuse to cooperate with the court." In it, Pollak wrote: "Yes, we must cross the lines and break the law. Despite the price, we must join the children of the stones and firebombs. We must march in their footsteps."
Haaretz stressed this part was removed from the article and did not appear in the newspaper's print edition.
The Attorney General's Office decided that there were no grounds reason to open an investigation against Haaretz or any of its editors over the incident, the daily said on its website.
The Ad Kan group, a right-wing NGO that states its mission is to "fight anti-Israel groups that malign Israel and the IDF" and which filed a police complaint against Pollak over the item, welcomed the AG's decision, saying that "anyone party to gross incitement against Israeli soldiers and settlers must be made to answer for their actions."
Two months ago, Ad Kan filed a police complaint against Polk citing 18 cases in which his actions allegedly targeted IDF and Border Police forces. The group claims that Pollak himself took an active part in the riots and has been documented many times by burning tires, leading Palestinian protesters and instigating violent events.
