Maisa Abd Elhadi, a renowned Arab Israeli actress known for her roles in both international and Israeli productions, was released to house arrest on Wednesday. This comes a day after her detention by police over allegations of expressing support for Hamas and its actions on October 7.
The Nazareth District Court granted Abd Elhadi's release to house arrest until Sunday, October 29, with a strict prohibition on her use of social media during this period. The decision followed her appeal against a ruling by the Tiberias Magistrate’s Court that initially ordered her custody until October 26.
In justifying the decision, Judge Arafat Taha acknowledged that while Abd Elhadi's social media posts were deemed harsh and potentially provocative, it remained uncertain if they constituted illegal activity.
The controversy stemmed from Abd Elhadi's Instagram posts, which included images of Yaffa Adar, 85, being held hostage by Hamas, accompanied by laughing emojis. Adar was among the 224 individuals taken captive by terrorists during the devastating incident on October 7, which claimed the lives of approximately 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
In a subsequent post, Abd Elhadi shared an image depicting Hamas forces breaching Israel's security border, accompanied by a caption that read, "Let’s go, Berlin style," an apparent allusion to the historic fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
The actress faced criticism from her Israeli co-star on the show "Temporarily Dead," Ofer Shechter, who expressed disappointment, saying, "I’m ashamed of you. You should be ashamed of yourself. You live in Nazareth, act and star in our TV shows and films, and then stab us in the back."
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, known for his hardline stance, strongly condemned the decision to grant Abd Elhadi house arrest, asserting that it "gives support to terrorism and will lead to increased incitement and further expressions of support for the terrible massacre."
Since the October 7 incident, the Israel Police has pledged to take a firm stance against individuals within Israel expressing support for Hamas. Commissioner Kobi Shabtai reinforced this stance in a video posted to the Police’s Arabic TikTok channel, stating, "Anyone who wants to identify with Gaza is welcome — I’ll put them on buses that will send them there, I’ll help them get there."
