Argument spirals into brawl at Holon water park; twelve detained, two workers hurt

An argument at a water park spiraled into a brawl on Saturday in central Israel, prompting the closure of the park for the day and the detention of 12 people.

Footage showed people throwing chairs and other large objects at each other, as people could be seen fleeing the chaos at the Yamit 2000 waterpark in Holon.

Sponsored Apple AirPods Pro 3 Review: The ANC Wireless Earbuds to Beat in 2026 See the review →

The melee broke out around 3 p.m., after someone refused a request by lifeguards to turn down the music from their personal speaker, according to the Ynet news site.

Two security guards were lightly injured as a result of the brawl, with police officers arriving on the scene to break up the fight after the park’s security staff could not.

Police said they detained 12 suspects in the incident, all residents of southern Israel.

They were taken to the Holon police station for questioning.

״כיסאות עפו מעל ילדים״: קטטה קשה לפני זמן קצר בימית אלפיים: על פי עדויות האירוע החל לאחר שהעובדים במקום ביקשו להנמיך מוזיקה, ומשם זה התפתח לאירוע אלים של זריקת כיסאות וחפצים. אישה כותבת לנו: ״לא משנה על מה הריב איך הם לא חושבים על אחרים שנפגעים מזה? כיסאות עפו מעל ילדים, היה פה… pic.twitter.com/xJceG7cTmi

— daniel amram – דניאל עמרם (@danielamram3) August 15, 2026

The park was subsequently closed for the day.

In the wake of the incident, Holon Mayor Shai Kenan announced he’d decided to limit weekend and holiday access to the water park to residents of the city alone.

“When I was a member of the municipal council, I also worked to close Yamit 2000 on holidays — [it should be] for residents of Holon only,” he said.

The mayor said he’d avoided making the policy change until now due to his learning, upon entering office, that the park was running a 40 million NIS ($13.5m) deficit, but that recent violent incidents led him to make it nonetheless.

The water park has seen similar incidents in the past.

As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.

This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world. 

If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.

— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist

We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.

That’s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.

So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.

For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.

Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel