Man charged after attack on ‘Israeli’ TV crew in Belfast
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A 30-year-old man has been charged after allegedly attacking an ‘Israeli’ television crew filming a documentary on antisemitism in Belfast city centre.
The incident involved a crew from i24NEWS’ Hebrew channel.
Reporter Yonatan Raveh and cameraman Nadav Abbas were conducting street interviews near a bar complex in the Cathedral Quarter when a man approached them.
"פאק ישראל!": צוות i24NEWS הותקף בצפון אירלנד בעת צילום סדרת כתבות על אנטישמיות, התוקף השליך כוס בירה לעבר הצוות לאחר שגילה שהם מישראל@yonatanraveh11 https://t.co/okRXEdNYbw pic.twitter.com/orP08FgAvE
— i24NEWS (@i24NEWS_HE) August 16, 2026
Raveh said he believed the man had overheard them telling two Irish interviewees that they were from ‘Israel’.
“He came over to us and started asking questions. We put the camera on him, and then he gave us the middle finger and shouted: ‘f*** Israel,’” Raveh told The Jerusalem Post.
The man allegedly tried to grab the crew’s camera equipment and made obscene gestures.
The journalists attempted to walk away peacefully, but he followed them. “We were not looking for any trouble; we were trying to be as peaceful as we can get, and we just walked away. But he started to follow us,” Raveh said.
Bar security initially did little to intervene, according to the reporter.
The confrontation escalated when the man threw a large glass beer mug at Abbas, striking him in the head and causing a cut.
Security then intervened and brought the journalists inside a bar.
Abbas received treatment at the scene but required no further medical care.
The pair later returned to ‘Israel’. Footage of the confrontation was released by the crew.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) charged the 30-year-old man with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault, assault on police, and two counts of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
He appeared at Belfast Magistrates’ Court.
Charges are subject to review by the Public Prosecution Service, and the investigation remains ongoing.
