The Israel Police officer who brutally beat Ethiopian soldier Damas Pakada in Holon earlier this month has been fired, Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino announced Wednesday. 

“I dismissed him pending a hearing yesterday,” Danino stated, during a “Meet the Press” event at Netanya Academic College, according to Yediot Aharonot. “He had a lot of arguments and we had an in-depth discussion on this issue, along with the legal counsel, the discipline department, the Attorney General and Head of Human Resources.”

“After the hearing, everyone decided that he should be dismissed from the Police.” 
 
Asked whether actions will be taken against a second police officer seen in the video, Danino became evasive.

“The dismissal has nothing to do with the criminal case being conducted against him by the Department for Investigation of Police (DIP),” he said.  “If there is evidence [against him] then we will decide to file charges against him and he will be punished, like anyone who committed a crime.”

“[The issue] does not belong to the administrative process of dismissal.” 

Pakada’s beating has sparked a series of mass protests in major Israeli cities, including Rishon LeZion, Tel Aviv, and Haifa. The protests are scheduled to resume Monday at 3:00 pm on Rothschild Blvd.