The Magistrate's Court ruled this week that Arabs who attacked a Jew in the Old City of Jerusalem are to compensate him in the amount of NIS 2,750,000.
The victim filed a civil lawsuit against his attackers after they were convicted in a criminal trial, only to receive suspended prison terms. The verdict was reached without the presence of the defendants who failed to appear for the proceedings.
The attack took place in June of 2015, when the victim of the grisly attack, Avraham Ehrlich, was participating in a tour of the Old City as part of a tour guide course on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and University of Haifa. Ehrlich was traveling via electric bike and due to the fact that the group's route passed through places where he would have to use stairs, he decided to take the tour on his own.
During the trip, Ehrlich came to a restaurant owned by Arabs where he purchased food while conversing with them in English. After leaving his bicycle outside the restaurant. At the end of the meal, Erlich asked for the bill and one of the waiters said he owed 200 shekels. Ehrlich turned on his camera and asked the same question in Hebrew. This time, the cost came out to NIS 50.
In the meantime, Arabs working in the restaurant began pushing Ehrlich and warning him to stop filming, while one of them grabbed the cell phone from his hand and broke the screen.
Ehrlich fled the restaurant but remembered that he had left his bicycle behind and tried to retrieve it. When he entered the restaurant again, one of the assailants pounced on him and began beating him with a stick. Others joined in, beating him with sticks and baseball bats. He was then dragged to a side alley where they continued beating him. He managed to escape but while begging for help, other Arabs took advantage of the situation and hit him as well.
Ehrlich was able to contact police, who helped him gather his bike and identify the attackers. As a result of the attack, Erlich suffered injuries to his forehead, leg and hand. Since the incident, he has suffered severe symptoms of mental trauma and post-trauma and has not been able to return to work.
After the verdict was pronounced, Erlich's lawyer, Attorney Haim Bleicher of the Honenu human rights organization, said: "Unfortunately, Muslims attack Jews as a matter of course as if it's the natural thing to do. We will continue to take vigorous measures to exact a heavy price from those rioters and put an end to repeated attacks against Jews."