A 22-year-old Arab man from Jerusalem has been jailed for eight months for hurling rocks at a car driven by Jewish activist David Be'eri. The attack in question took place in October 2010.
The attack made headlines not for the harm caused to Be'eri, but due to the fact that Be'eri hit an Arab boy who was running toward his car as he swerved to avoid the attack. The boy was lightly injured. Arab media accused Be'eri of “running down” the child.
Be'eri's young son was in the car during the rock attack. People have been seriously wounded and even killed in previous such attacks.
The 22-year-old who was involved in the attack admitted to throwing a rock at Be'eri's car, but claimed that he was not part of the mob that attacked Be'eri – with cameras filming the whole time – but rather, was innocently making his way home from prayers when he stumbled into the situation. He attacked Be'eri after seeing him hit a child with his car, he claimed.
“I'm sorry for what happened. It was a reaction to what I saw, I didn't recognize the driver. Apparently I made a mistake,” the man said in court. His attorney argued that what had happened was “an unusual incident.”
The court decided to sentence the man to jail despite his claim that the attack stemmed from a simple mistaken interpretation of what was happening. Prosecutors had argued for a 10-month jail sentence, “for the purpose of both punishment and deterrence: punishment for the severe and dangerous act described in the indictment, and deterrence so that he does not do this again.”
Be'eri was detained for questioning after the October incident, but police quickly released him as video evidence showed that the child Be'eri hit had deliberately run in front of his car. MKs suggested that the parents of the children involved in the attack on Be'eri should be questioned instead; the child hit by Be'eri's car then began to claim that he could not remember the incident.
Be'eri heads the Elad organization, which develops the ancient Jewish site of Ir David (City of David). He has previously been targeted by terrorists, but was not hurt.