Had Yair Elalouf not intervened when a group of young men was beating three Arab Israelis with clubs and chains, the Aug. 23 attack on the Kiryat Haim beach could have ended in murder on the grounds of nationality.
"I saw a group of young [Jewish] Russians beating [the Arabs] with clubs and chains. They had jumped three people there, who were already unconscious on the ground, covered with blood," Elalouf told Ynet. "One of them asked me for help, said they were going to kill them. I went there, I got the young guys away from there and called the police. I did what I thought was right, to help them." According to Elalouf, none of the 70 or 80 other people on the beach did anything.