A Jewish teenager was hit by a vehicle driven by an Arab driver at the Givat Asaf Junction in the Binyamin Region during a demonstration against the murder of Yehonatan Deutsch in a shooting attack in the Jordan Valley.
The demonstrators stood on the side of the road, per the requests of soldiers at the scene, the Arab driver swerved his vehicle toward them and hit them. One of the protesters was sent flying into the air and was hurt. The driver fled the scene and was arrested a short time later. However, the police released him claiming it was a traffic accident. Adv. Chaim Bleicher of the Honenu advocacy organization, who represents the teen victim, sent a letter to Central Command Commander Avi Bluth and the defense establishment calling for the arrest of the driver, who he refers to as a terrorist.
In his letter, Bleicher describes the incident: "After learning of the brutal murder of Yehonatan Deutsch, several residents went to protest at the Givat Asaf junction. At one point soldiers instructed my client and others to cross to the other side of the road. While crossing the road, my client noticed a vehicle speeding in his direction. The owner of the vehicle saw my client and made eye contact with him and his friend who stood nearby. The driver purposefully accelerated toward my client and 'zig-zagged' in his direction as he attempted to get away. The vehicle directly hit my client causing him to be sent upwards and fall on the road. The owner of the vehicle continued driving and did not stop despite the impact, ignoring calls by soldiers who ran toward him with guns drawn, and drove wildly further down the road as many civilians and vehicles stood on the side. Only later did security forces put up roadblocks and managed to catch him, and he was taken for questioning."
The lawyer attacked the police ruling that it was an accident despite the testimonies from the scene and demanded the driver's arrest: "To our great amazement, we now found out, after contacting investigators, that the incident was immediately classified by the police as an accident, in complete contrast to the clear testimony of my client and his friend who made eye contact with the driver as they attempted to escape being hit and as the terrorist raced directly at my client to murder him. The case was passed to the traffic department and the terrorist was immediately released, this was a failure.
"There are cameras at the scene and the ramming was filmed. Conversations with the victim and his two friends who were at the incident show that it was certainly an intentional ramming. With this being stated, it appears that the release of the terrorist to continue his acts was a serious failure. I ask you to immediately examine the footage of the incident as well as his friends' testimonies to the Binyamin Police and to work immediately to arrest the terrorist.
"This was a severe terror attack, the victim and his friends clearly saw the terrorist look at them and cruise toward them. The victim flew in the air from the force of the impact and was seriously hurt. It is unclear why the police claimed it was an accident, probably as an attempt to calm tensions. This attempt endangers us all. At this moment, a terrorist who can carry out additional attacks roams free. We call on the security forces to arrest the terrorist," the letter concludes.