Car Accident (illustrative)
Car Accident (illustrative)Israel news photo: Flash 90

Tomer Shamir, the man responsible for the accident caused permanent severe disability to the teenage son of MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud-Beytenu), was sentenced to eight months in prison on Monday, according to Walla! News. The website notes that the sentence is relatively severe and that similar crimes usually do not receive prison time as punishment. 

Feiglin's 16-year-old son David and four friends were returning from a volunteer activity in his community of Alfei Menashe in 2010 when Shamir hit them. Shamir ignored a solid separation line and carried out a U-turn just as the car full of teenagers was approaching in the opposite direction, causing the cars to crash. Feiglin was severely injured; his friends suffered light injuries. 

Feiglin lay for two months in a coma with a severe head injury, as well as hip and skull fractures. Three months later, he awoke from the coma - in what his family considered to be a miracle - but he is still handicapped as a result of the accident. 

Six months ago, the Petah Tikva Magistrates Court for Traffic declared that Shamir should be given a harsh sentence, mainly due to the handicaps the younger Feiglin now suffers. The Traffic Court proceedings noted that Shamir did, in fact, know perfectly well that the U-turn was prohibited at the spot where he undertook it. Shamir has been fighting the sentence in higher courts, but his appeals were finally rejected last week by the Supreme Court. 

"This was a mortal injury," MK Feiglin stated during the proceedings. "But I am here to talk about the personal aspect."

"Before the accident, two days before Purim, David and I loaded the bikes into our car and drove to Kibbutz Dafna," he said, "to see if we could bike to the summit of Mount Hermon [approximately 5 kilometers - ed.]." 

"David was a child then, but we did it: we reached Mount Hermon. I told him on the way back,  'you've just reached the highest summit in the country, and the sky is the limit. Anything you want to do, you can do.'"

"Now, the 'sky' has become for David to leave home, to be able to feed himself, to hold a glass of water without spilling it, to cut his food," he stated. "We hope that one day he will be able to become independent." 

Feiglin also noted that Shamir has never asked for forgiveness or gotten in touch with the Feiglin family after the accident. 

"What really bothers me is that [David] is unable to cry," Feiglin reflected. "His severe head injury ruined the life of an amazing child and changed our family forever. David, who was a handsome boy, full of confidence, full of charisma and surrounded by friends has become dependent and limited." 

David's name is David Yosef ben [son of] Faige Perel.