The State Attorney's Office filed a precedential indictment with the Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday afternoon, against the owner of a Jerusalem-based transportation company, on the offenses of causing death and damage by negligence, for his involvement in the murderous attack at the Jaffa light rail station, on October 1, 2024
According to the indictment, the defendant ordered a company driver to drive illegal residents into Israel during the Swords of Iron War and his gross negligence enabled to two terrorists to carry out the attack, murdering seven people and injuring many others.
The indictment states that the owner of the transportation company received a request on October 1, 2024 to pick up 13 passengers, and he instructed his driver to fulfil the order, knowing that they were illegal residents whose entry into Israel is prohibited, all this for the sake of greed.
The two drivers who actually drove the terrorists, two Hebron residents, are accused of seven offenses of reckless homicide and offenses of causing grievous bodily harm. The drivers are accused of refraining from checking their suspicions against the terrorists, who were carrying a backpack with an inscription in Hebrew and containing an 16-M rifle.
[קישורים:4:טבח אכזרי ביפו]
It was further stated that "the driver met the passengers at the meeting point, and during the trip ordered them to turn off their mobile phones and pull back the vehicle’s curtains. The attackers were wearing black clothes, not work clothes. The accused avoided checking out the purpose of the trip with the attackers and at one point, due to his fear of a police inspection, transferred three of them, including the attackers, to a taxi belonging to the third defendant, who drove the terrorists to Tel Aviv.”
“When they passed near a football stadium, the terrorists asked the driver if a football match was due to take place, with the intention of carrying out an attack in a crowded place. Even so, the defendant continued the journey and dropped the terrorists in Jaffa. At 19:00, the terrorists arrived at the Jaffa light rail station and immediately opened fire on the pedestrians, stabbing several of them. In the attack, 7 people were murdered and 11 others were injured
The indictment also states that the defendants tried to tamper with the evidence. "After the attack, the owner of the transportation company came to the driver's house and asked him to destroy his cell phone, to hide before he was arrested, and also requested that if he is arrested and questioned on suspicion of connection to the attack, he must refrain from revealing any involvement in the incident. The owner of the transportation company promised to reward the driver financially if he did all this. For this he is also accused of obstructing legal proceedings."
The prosecution has requested that the court order the arrest of the accused until the end of the legal proceedings against them and confiscate the transportation vehicle.