The assault in April
The assault in Aprilno credit

Two Arabs were convicted yesterday for assaulting a rabbi in Jaffa, but will not spend any time in jail.

Rabbi Eliyahu Mali, the dean of the local Hesder (pre-army preparatory) yeshiva, was attacked and beaten in April while visiting real estate property his yeshiva planned on purchasing for a local Jewish man.

While walking down a street in Jaffa, Rabbi Mali and Moshe Schendowich, the director of the yeshiva, were attacked by a group of Arab assailants who surrounded the two and proceeded to harass and mock Rabbi Mali and Schendowich.

When Rabbi Mali and Schendowich took out their cellular phones to call for help, several of the Arabs assaulted them, punching and kicking the two victims. Schendowich was injured in the attack, and was hospitalized afterwards. Rabbi Mali filed a police complaint shortly after the assault.

The prosecution reached an agreement with the two attackers under which they confessed to the assault, and will receive a minimal punishment of community service. As part of the plea deal, the state will seek to sentence one defendant to nine months of community service and the other to five months of community service..