The Broder Police officer who shot and killed 32-year-old autistic Palestinian Eyad Hallaq in 2020 after mistaking him for a terrorist has recently been signed up by the head of the force for a new position after his mandatory service ended, effectively granting him a promotion with better salary in a professional capacity.
Israel Hayom can exclusively report that the policeman is currently serving as an operations sergeant under a career officer contract at the Border Patrol base in the center of Israel.
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The officer was signed up for this position after Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai announced last September that he is giving him full backing, and even sent a letter of support to the court. "Every policeman will be supported by the police services," the commissioner wrote, explaining his support for the policeman. "There is no way that a policeman will undergo police investigation these days without having a lawyer with him. Those days should go away. When a policeman has acted correctly and there is reason to defend him, I will defend him with my own body."
Hallaq was fatally shot just inside the Old City's Lion's Gate on May 30, 2020, as he was on his way to the special-needs institution that he attended.
The area is a frequent site of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, and the Old City's narrow streets are lined with hundreds of security cameras that are monitored by police. But as the investigation proceeded over the summer, prosecutors claimed that none of the cameras in the area had worked and there was no footage of the incident.
According to accounts at the time, Hallaq was shot after failing to heed calls to stop and running away. Two members of Israel's paramilitary Border Police then chased Hallaq into a nook and shot him as he cowered next to a garbage bin.
Border Police Commander Major General Amir Cohen, who decided to enlist the policeman into this new track said in a recent talk: "I want every Border Police officer to have the right to defend his innocence. We must make sure that the Police service's norms are not breached. I believe in what he said." In the aforesaid discussion, the Border Police commander emphasized: "I believe that he acted in accordance with his awareness of the circumstances during those moments. He truly believed that this person was a terrorist, and I am sure that he acted as he did because of the potential danger."
When asked why he felt confident enough to make these statements while the policeman is still on trial, Cohen said: "Whoever listens to the audio recordings from that day and hears the orders received by a 19-year-old boy who underwent training only a short time earlier – we told him that we are living in the reality of terrorist attacks, terrorist attacks, terrorist attacks. We made it very clear to the fighters that they must be cautious and very careful; ready and alert. He went on a mission. They were shouting "terrorist, terrorist, terrorist," and they chased after whomever they thought was a terrorist. The word 'terrorist' blasted out of the radios – these are the circumstances of the situation he was in."
Major-General Cohen also clarified that if he had been asked, he would have stated that he believes that charges should not have been filed against the officer. Cohen categorically denied the concern that he was interfering in the legal proceedings currently being conducted against the policeman and added: "We are people of the law and we respect the law. If the court decides that he is guilty – we will dismiss him from service immediately. We cannot have anyone with criminal convictions serving in our system. But as long as he has not been convicted – I have no problem with his service, which is why I recruited him to permanent service."
According to the indictment filed against the policeman, even though Hallaq was lying on the ground wounded as a result of the first shot, he was not holding anything in his hands and did nothing to justify being shot, and the defendant shot at the upper part of his body causing his death.
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