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.

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.

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