A self-described Palestinian migrant from northern Africa stole a pro-Israel flag from a Long Island porch â then pummeled the homeowner who tried to stop him in a wild caught-on-video attack, officials said.
Bechir Lehbeib, 26, allegedly stole the flag â which declared âIn This Home We Stand with Israel â from Aleksandr Binyaminovâs porch, cops said.
Binyaminov, who said one of his wifeâs relatives was killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel, was left bruised after the attack and blamed President Bidenâs border policies for the clash.
The homeowner told The Post he was alerted by his Ring security system that someone was at his house and he looked at video of the front of his house to see the theft in progress.
âSo I got dressed, came out. I confronted him,â Binyaminov said. âI told him, âGive me the flags,â and he just started fighting with me and punching me in my face.â
Binyaminov said he âdidnât think twiceâ about running after Lehbieb to retrieve the flag.
âI was a little hot and it meant something to us,â he told The Post.
âHe basically got me in a choke position, threw me on the floor and head butted me. He was saying, âIâm from Palestine. Youâre killing Jews.â Thatâs all he said,â Binyaminov said.
The accused later allegedly ranted to to cops that he hated Israeli Jews and made other hateful statements, authorities told The Post.
He told police who arrested him, âIf I see the flag of the people that killed my people, we will have a problem.â
Lehbeib, who descibed himself as Palestinian, entered the U.S.from Mexico in November, authorities said. Officials said they arenât sure of his country of origin, but said they believe he migrated from somewhere in the northern part of Africa.
He is now facing hate crime charges of second degree assault and robbery and criminal mischief. He was arraigned on Monday in Nassau District Court and Lehbeid was detained on $50,000.
Binyaminov had a red bruise under his right eye from getting pummeled by Lehbeib while he lamented the migrant crisis in the US.
âThis is happening because of open borders, and before letting people in we need to see their backgrounds. We need to protect our country, our citizens, our taxpayers,â Binyaminov said.
The devout Jewish man called Hewlett is a âvery quietâ neighborhood where ânothing ever happensâ, adding, âI donât know what he was doing in our neighborhood, targeting our Jewish members.â
âI know heâs facing a couple of felonies, but this was his choice,â Binyaminov said.
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He is believed to have taken a bus from the Queens address to Hewlett, cops said.
âItâs very suspicious,â Blakeman said. âHe came a long way from Staten Island to get here. If heâs looking for work why did he have nefarious ideas.
(vide video and full article online)
A self-described Jew-hating Palestinian migrant from northern Africa was arrested for assault and robbery in the town of Hewlett.
nypost.com