An Arab was arrested after being filmed on Tisha B'Av damaging car tires near the Western Wall.
The arrest occurred after the Honenu legal aid organization contacted the police and provided them with footage from a car camera, in which the Arab's face is clearly visible. In the wake of the footage, he was arrested by the police.
In a letter sent to the police by Attorney Chaim Bleicher, he describes the event: "My clients, residents of Jerusalem, traveled to the Western Wall on Tisha B'Av, and for this purpose, parked their car in the Zion Gate parking lot. When my clients returned to the car, they discovered that a sticker had been removed from the car and later found that the tire was punctured, constituting irreversible damage worth thousands of shekels. Reviewing the car's camera footage revealed that the act was carried out by a minority taxi driver, who also punctured the tires of other cars at the site."
He emphasized in his letter that the Arab's actions were done with nationalistic motives: "This is a serious act of property damage carried out with nationalistic and antisemitic motives, in a public place and openly, without fear or trepidation of the law. It is inconceivable that in the capital city of the State of Israel, Jews should fear to park their car and lose their basic sense of security, while the perpetrators act as they wish without any fear. This is a perpetrator acting brazenly, and therefore poses a high danger of committing even more serious acts, especially when it comes to a taxi driver who comes into contact with a wide public. I request that a severe indictment be filed against him for property damage with a racist motive."
"The perpetrator committed a hate crime against Jews. Islamist criminals exploit every opportunity to harm Jews. The distance between property damage and attempting to murder Jews is very short. We call to bring the rioter to justice for the security of the residents of Jerusalem."