Three weeks after the attack on a Jewish resident of Tel Aviv in the mixed city of Jaffa (Yafo), a court has ordered the release of two of the Arabs implicated in the attack.
Meir Sha’anani was attacked by dozens of Arabs, three weeks ago in the heart of the city of Yafo, and needed to undergo surgery on his hand as a result. When he lodged a formal complaint with the police, he was told that the attack had been documented and the suspects arrested, but since then, two of those arrested have been released and only the third remains behind bars.
“Like every other week, I was making my way through the streets of Tel Aviv as part of my delivery job in the area,” Sha’anai related. “Last week, I had to pass through Yafo as well. Suddenly, as I reached Yeffet Street, a group of around 30 Arabs approached me, and started to attack me with rocks and concrete blocks. They injured me in the palm of my hand.” The next day, X-rays revealed that his left hand had been broken.
Three Arabs were initially arrested by police, but following a court order, two of them were released. Attorney Haim Bleicher of the Honenu organization then appealed to the police to do everything necessary in order to prosecute those involved in this racially motivated attack.
The police responded that: “Israel Police have opened an investigation into this incident and are involved in a number of both overt and covert operations, which have already led to the arrest of three of the suspects involved. The investigation is ongoing with the aim of uncovering the true facts of the incident.”
This was not the first occasion in recent times that Jews have been targeted in Yafo, with some residents talking of an "intifada" against religious Jews in the city.