Last week, Jerusalem Magistrate Court Judge Joya Skappa-Shapiro convicted female Border Guard officer Orian Ben Khalifa of assaulting an Arab woman in the Old City of Jerusalem back in November 2021, when Ben Khalifa was an enlisted Border Guard officer (Female Border Guard Orian Ben Khalifa Convicted of Assault, Ben Gvir Mulling Appeal).
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir issued a response to the verdict, saying, “It’s strange that the same judge who acquitted a police officer who punched a Haredi boy, claiming it should be understood that the officer ‘does not work under lab conditions,’ did not take into account the fact that the female officer did not work under ‘lab conditions’ either.”
On Monday, the Commander of the Border Guard, Superintendent Amir Cohen, told the Head of Human Resources, Superintendent Boaz Goldberg, and Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai, that non-commissioned officer Orian Ben Khalifa is back in service in the Border Guard.
It was a clear win for the National Security Minister, who vowed to support any police officer who gets in legal trouble while on duty. He celebrated Ben Khalifa’s reinstatement with a statement: “Our men and women fighters have my full backing. Contrary to what officials in the defense ministry and the judiciary apparently believe, when fighting terrorism, the fight is not conducted under lab conditions, but under pressure and in a hostile environment. I congratulate the Border Guard Commander and the Commissioner for the important decision, and wish Officer Ben Khalifa great success in her continued service in the Border Guard for the people of Israel and the State of Israel.”
Officer Ben Khalifa will continue to serve while the legal proceedings against her continue.
