Police opened an investigation this morning (Tuesday) into a suspected shooting incident targeting a Japanika restaurant in the city of Herzliya. According to the police statement, there were no casualties in the incident, but upon the officers’ arrival at the scene, apparent bullet marks were located on the business’s storefront window.
Officers from the Glilot station in the Yarkon district, along with forensic investigators, cordoned off the scene and began gathering evidence and conducting investigative activities. The circumstances of the incident are still under investigation.
The incident in Herzliya joins a series of attacks against branches of the Japanika chain in recent days. On the night between Monday and Tuesday, two other branches of the chain—in Netanya and Afula—were attacked within a short period of time. In both cases, there were no casualties, but property damage was caused.
In Netanya, a fire broke out at the chain’s branch on Giborei Israel Street, after a stolen military munition item was suspected to have been thrown at the establishment. Police and firefighting forces were dispatched to the scene, and an initial investigation indicated that the background to the incident is criminal, as part of an ongoing conflict between criminals.
Subsequently, a report was received regarding the sound of an explosion heard in the Afula industrial zone. Police officers who arrived at the scene located the city’s Japanika branch, at which a grenade had been thrown. In this case as well, a suspected criminal motive is being investigated.
This past Saturday night, criminals fired shots at a Japanika branch in Ra’anana. Police suspect that in response, grenades were thrown at the wholesale market in the Rishon LeZion area, which is allegedly linked to the Musli brothers.
As revealed by our reporter Ariel Idan, some of the chain’s branches in the Tel Aviv area are connected in one way or another to the Jarushi crime organization. Standing against them are the brothers Yossi and Eli Musli, senior leaders of the Musli crime organization, which is locked in a conflict with the Jarushi organization led by Ismail Jarushi.
In recent days, the confrontation between the two crime organizations has intensified, and as part of it, branches of the Japanika chain have become targets for repeated attacks, causing heavy damage to property. The police are continuing to investigate the sequence of events and the possible connection between them.