Israeli police have announced a further arrest in the investigation into the wave of grenade attacks on the Japanika restaurant chain, the sushi business owned by Beitar Jerusalem proprietor Barak Abramov. The suspect is accused of throwing a grenade at the chain's branch in Kiryat Ono, east of Tel Aviv. A Tel Aviv court has extended his remand by 12 days while detectives from the district's central investigative unit continue their inquiries, according to Friday's announcement.
The suspect has not been named in Israeli coverage, and he is not identified here for that reason. The Jerusalem Post reported that a man arrested over the same Kiryat Ono attack is an 18-year-old from Bat Yam, and quoted police as saying the grenades used in the campaign were stolen army ordnance. Four further suspects have had their remands extended until 19 July.
All of the detentions remain at the investigative stage. No indictments have been reported, and every suspect is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
The affair itself is a sustained campaign of violence against Abramov's business interests. Roughly 15 grenade and shooting incidents were recorded within a single week in mid-July, with Japanika branches struck in Tel Aviv, Givatayim, Herzliya, Ramat Gan, Netanya, Afula, Kiryat Ono and, most recently, Rosh Pina. One person was lightly hurt in south Tel Aviv, while other blasts damaged shopfronts and shook nearby homes.
Police believe the attacks stem from a feud between the Musli and Jarushi crime families, with Abramov's restaurants targeted as a means of inflicting economic pain on him. The businessman, who is reported to have once been close to the Musli brothers before developing ties to figures associated with the Jarushi family, is not a suspect in any wrongdoing and has given testimony to investigators as an injured party.
Earlier in the inquiry, detectives arrested Yossi Musli, the alleged head of a criminal organisation that police say is worth more than half a billion shekels and is suspected of involvement in murders, extortion and illegal gambling. Those are allegations only; he has not been convicted of any offence connected to this investigation.
The football dimension is what has kept Israeli supporters watching the case closely. Abramov bought Beitar Jerusalem in 2022, and under his ownership the club lifted the State Cup for the first time since 2009. He has publicly insisted that the violence surrounding his restaurant empire, a chain of some 20 branches he acquired outright in 2015, will not affect the club.
Update, 19 July: police have made a further arrest in the affair, this time over arson rather than a grenade. A 28-year-old man from Kiryat Ata is suspected of setting fire last week to the Japanika branch in Haifa's Carmel Center. He was detained on Saturday, and a court extended his remand until Monday, 20 July. Police said advanced investigative means led them to identify his suspected involvement. The suspect has not been named in Israeli coverage, no indictment has been reported, and he, like every detainee in the inquiry, retains the presumption of innocence.
Update, 19 July: National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has publicly confirmed that he contacted Abramov after the grenade attacks on his restaurant chain, while insisting he plays no part in the police inquiry. Speaking on Radio 103FM, Ben Gvir dismissed criticism of the contact: "You fell on the wrong minister. From six in the morning I spoke with at least 26 citizens — that's my job," he said, adding that he understood police "didn't handle it properly initially."
In a separate broadcast interview the same day, the minister, himself a Beitar Jerusalem supporter, said: "I am not involved in the investigation, I did not call the investigators and I did not tell them anything." Abramov had earlier said publicly that Ben Gvir initiated the contact.
