A Jewish family from the Shimon Hatzadik neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem who were violently attacked by the brother of their Arab neighbor made an appointment at their local Maccabi HMO dental clinic and discovered the dentist they were assigned was their attacking neighbor, Channel 20 reported Wednesday (קבעו תור וגילו כי הרופא הערבי הוא התוקף נגדו הגישו תלונה).
The Maccabident clinic heard their complaint and assigned them a different dentist. The police were not nearly as open to their criminal report and closed the case. The Health Ministry promised the refer to the issue “if and when an indictment is filed” against the violent dentist.
Mahmoud Farhan, an Arab dentist, was recorded by a security camera when he was attacking his brother’s neighbor, Yair Kehati, a resident of the Shimon Hatzadik neighborhood, and trying to break into his home.
Despite the documentation, the police closed the case, and the Honenu legal aid society appealed the decision to the State Attorney’s Office. Kehati also filed complaints with the clinic and the health ministry against the attacking dentist, describing the attack that took place about six months ago: “One week before the attack, Mahmoud visited his brother, who is our neighbor, and stole a table that was in our yard. We saw it on the security cameras.”
התקיפה התרחשה על רקע גניבת שולחן, ד”ר פרחאן גנב שולחן משכנו היהודי מה שתועד במצלמות האבטחה pic.twitter.com/Sa2qkLS60O
— שיראל ללום (@shirellaloom)
A week later, Muhammad visited his brother again, and Kehati recognized him. “I went out to demand that he return the table to me, and then, instantly, Mahmoud got upset and ran toward me, and just as I was entering the house he broke the window and tried to enter the house and throw large objects at me,” Kehati recalled. The large object, as can be seen in the CCTV video, was the iron frame of a double bed. “Miraculously, I had pepper spray on me and so he was unable to break into the house and attack me and my wife. We were saved miraculously from the hands of Mahmoud and his brother.”
After the attack, Kehati fled to his house and together with his wife tried to escape through the back door to reach security guards who stood nearby. Their Arab neighbor, Farhan’s brother, ran to the back entrance of the house carrying the iron frame and again threw it at them as they were fleeing.
Mahmoud Farhan was detained for questioning and after the Kehati couple filed a complaint against him with the police, Yair was also called in for questioning, during which he realized the interrogating officer was turning the table on him, accusing him of attacking his neighbor with pepper spray.
The police decided to close the case and the Kehatis filed an appeal through Honenu attorney Chaim Bleicher.
Later, Mrs. Kehati made an appointment for a routine dental checkup at the Maccabident clinic on Agrippa Street downtown and was surprised to find out that the name of her assigned dentist was Mahmoud Farhan, the same as the name of the attacker. After a brief inquiry, the couple realized it was the same person.
“We were horrified to find out that the person who tried to attack us was none other than a licensed dentist who works at an HMO and runs an independent dental clinic,” Kehati complained to the health ministry and Maccabident. “I think it is neither appropriate nor logical that a violent person who steals and attacks civilians without fear and apprehension deserves to be a dentist anywhere, and I ask that his license be revoked as soon as possible,” Kehati wrote.
Maccabident responded that as long as the case is under investigation, they cannot comment on it, although they did assign Mrs. Kehati a different dentist. The State Prosecution would not comment on a case under investigation.
Meanwhile, if you’re a Maccabi patient living in Jerusalem and woke up this morning with a toothache, check who was assigned to buzz inside your wide-open mouth. And do watch this memorable scene from Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier: