Joint List MKs said on Friday, April 3, that Israel and the IDF should apologize to thousands of Palestinian who live in the villages surrounding the settlement of Kiryat Arba for the trouble security forces put them through during the search for Niv Asraf.

Niv Asraf (Photo: Facebook)

Asraf, the lovesick 22-year-old who faked his own kidnapping in the occupied territories in a bid to win back his former girlfriend, spent Seder night in a Jerusalem jail. Asraf is being held on suspicion of falsifying evidence and issuing a false report. The state plans to issue an indictment against Asraf and his accomplice, Eran Nagaukar, on Sunday, April 5.

Joint List MKs said the IDF occupation forces entered many homes looking for the Beersheba native, causing Palestinian families severe trauma. The MKs complained that the media in Israel focused on the large sum of money wasted due to the search and the unnecessary danger encountered by soldiers, but failed to report on the suffering of the Palestinians in the press.

MK Ahmad Tibi (Ta’al – Joint List) said Israelis should blame the occupation for what happened on Thursday night and not just Asraf. He mocked the Right for being too quick to blame Palestinians for past incidents. B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories issued a statement on Friday saying the fake kidnapping took a heavy toll on Palestinian civilians, including thousands who were held up at security check points across the West Bank, and many whose homes security forces raided in their search for Asraf.