The Honeinu legal aid organization has filed a civil lawsuit for 440,000 ILS against an Arab man who assaulted a haredi family in Jerusalem, injuring the father.
Six years ago, the Arab assailant attacked the family and broke the window of their car while they were driving in the Beit Hanina neighborhood of Jerusalem. The broken window injured the father with glass shards and he briefly lost consciousness. Following the attack, the Arab assailant was arrested and sentenced to 23 months in prison, in addition to a compensation payment of 10,000 NIS, after Judge Eliezer Bialin ruled it was a hate crime.
The indictment detailing the attack states: "On 19.8.19, the defendant sat on a bench near Gan Eden Square in Beit Hanina neighborhood, Jerusalem. After several vehicles passed, the plaintiffs' car arrived, with their three young children, aged three, two, and one, seated in the back. The defendant noticed the plaintiff, who appeared haredi, approached and forcefully kicked the car door window. The force of the kick shattered it onto the plaintiff's face. As a result of the defendant's actions, the plaintiff lost consciousness for a while and suffered injuries to his neck and left hand.'
Attorney Chaim Bleicher from 'Honeinu' stated: 'This is a case that demands lessons learned and introspection. An anti-Semitic attack on a Jewish family is filed by prosecutors under trivial charges. The court corrects the prosecutors' mistake, yet they stubbornly refuse to amend this grave error. Unfortunately, Jews are often attacked because of their Judaism, yet for various reasons, this is not adequately reflected in the indictments. There is an urgent need for correction.
Due to our appeal efforts, even the appellate court in the district did not accept the prosecution's stance but was forced to reduce the assailant's sentence due to the prosecution's faulty conduct. We demand stern action and full justice against the widespread phenomenon of terrorism against Jews in the capital. We will continue to act in all ways to deter and exact a heavy price from these assailants, as we are doing now by filing the civil lawsuit,' he added.