Israeli Police Claims on Water Cannon Usage Contradict Evidence on the Ground

Jan 15, 2024

Despite police guidelines to only use water cannons from long distance, protest accounts and photographs show water cannons striking protesters from close range

Israel Police briefed news outlets about water cannons deployed against judicial coup protesters in recent months, demoing the vehicle's capabilities to a group of journalists.

The meeting occurred in the wake of accusations that police are using the water cannon to disperse crowds in a manner that violates police guidelines.

Police Commander Eyal Raon, the administrative leader of enforcement operations, told journalists that "water cannons are non-lethal tools, we aren't aiming at [protesters'] heads – but at the end of the day we aren't working in a sterile environment. … therefore there have been some injuries in places we didn't want to hit."

Commander Raon also said that per police guidelines, the crowd dispersing tool should only be used from a distance of 20 meters (65 feet) or more.

However, the reality on the ground is different, according to Haaretz field reporters and protesters. Short range blasts from water cannons have injured the eyes of at least four protesters, according to protesters.

Inbal Yasur, who coordinates complaints of police violence for alimut.org, says that photographic evidence indicates that “direct blasting, including at protesters not posing a threat or blocking a traffic route, has become a regular occurrence.”

Shahar Ginosar, age 61, was hit in the head and lost consciousness from a water cannon at a protest. "I was aimed at from six meters away, and even after I fell down and was dragged across the ground, they continued [to shoot at me] with a direct blast."

"My nose, I don't know if it will be possible to return it to its place," he said. Ginosar is still recovering from his injuries.

"I'm not doing well at all," says Michael Fish, who was hit in the eye by a water cannon blast in early July. "My eyesight at the moment is very problematic, and I can't function," said Fish, who has already undergone two eye surgeries, and says he will need more.

Fish said that he wasn't endangering anyone's life and no police officer asked him to get off the road. They just shot the water cannon. Now, "my whole life is stopped. [The police] have caused a human being to stop functioning."

The police currently has 13 water cannons. Four are deployed in the Jerusalem District and one is in the Tel Aviv district. The cannon holds 4500 liters of water, and has three spray-modes: regular-water spray, colored-water spray – which is used to mark those termed by the police as “disturbers of the peace” so they can arrest them later. The third is skunk-water spray, which has a putrid-smelling chemical that sticks to skin and clothing.

Commander Raon, who is also responsible for skunk-water spraying, told journalists that we deploy the water cannons "only in instances of severe public disturbances, after disturbers have been warned time after time."

When asked about the use of skunk water, Raon said “obviously if the smell dissipated within minutes, the protesters would return and it wouldn’t be relevant. Eventually [the smell] comes off after a good shower, but it may remain in clothes even after several laundries.”

Raon insisted that the police work in accordance with the Police Commissioner and have not altered water cannon guidelines in response to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's instructions. “The minister provides policy, but he has never caused us to change our procedures,” Raon said.