Supreme Court Justice Yitzhak Amit has denied the prosecutor's appeal of Jerusalem District Juvenile Court Judge Ohad Gordon's decision to release three Arab rioters, who participated in an attempted lynching of a Jewish family in the Beit Hanina neighborhood of Jerusalem back in October, to house arrest.
In in the lynching, the mother of the family was injured by broken glass and suffered cuts, and the children were covered in broken glass.
Justice Amit wrote in his decision that, "The defendants come from normative families, and don't have criminal records, the detention is tough on them and they probably have learned their lesson. The defendants are currently being held in the Damon prison alongside security prisoners. I'm not convinced that this does any good for the defendants or the State's interests."
The lynching attempt occurred last October over the holiday of Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles), while the family was traveling to their home in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood of Jerusalem. As they passed near Beit Hanina, tens of rioters began blocking the road that leads to the neighborhood.
When the family passed through, the rioters began pelting the vehicle with rocks, shattered the windows, and even attempted to open the doors. At one point, when a rock hit the window next to where the mother sat, another terrorist broke the window completely, and a third stuck his hand through it and attempted to punch the mother in the head.
A large rock that was thrown toward an infant who was traveling in the car hit his car seat but miraculously landed between his legs. Only after a long few minutes, the family managed to escape, with a few of the family members injured. The police opened an investigation and detained several of those who were involved, but as stated above, the suspects were released last week to house arrest.
Attorney Chaim Bleicher of the Honenu advocacy organization, who represents the victims of the attempted lynching, criticized the court's decision, stating: "The murderous attacks on Israeli civilians constantly repeat themselves, but unfathomably, the courts release the terrorists to walk the streets every time. It's too bad that the courts prefer the terrorist's convenience over the security of Israel's citizens."