Police say a group surrounded the activists at their stand and carried out physical and verbal attacks.

Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Chen Arieli at a memorial event, July 2025; illustrative.

(photo credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)

ByMAYA ZANGER-NADIS

JULY 3, 2026 14:02

Updated: JULY 3, 2026 14:28

Tel Aviv District Police took two suspects into custody near Tikva Market in south Tel Aviv on suspicion of involvement in an assault on activists that included Deputy Mayor Chen Arieli, police confirmed on Friday.

Authorities added that several people approached the activists who had set up a stand and subjected them to physical and verbal attacks.

The suspects were brought in for questioning, police said.

'We are not even able to meet and have a conversation'

Arieli was at the stand with youth activists from the Democrats Party, the deputy mayor wrote on social media after the event. She explained that the goal of the stand was to speak openly and honestly, even with those who do not necessarily agree with us.

The deputy mayor claimed that the attackers beat them, spat on them, and verbally assaulted them.

This is the result of the Netanyahu government that divides and sows hatred within the people, Arieli said. A government that upholds its own interests and engages in brainwashing to the point where we are unable to even meet one another on a Friday afternoon and have a conversation.