Honenu filed a civil lawsuit in the Hadera Magistrate's Court for 360,000 shekels against four residents of Umm al-Fahm, on suspicion that they attacked and attempted to lynch three Jews who served as observers in the 2019 Knesset elections.
According to the lawsuit filed by Attorney Haim Bleicher on behalf of the organization, the incident occurred on April 9, 2019, near the closing of the polling stations. The observers sought to vote at an accessible polling station in Umm al-Fahm, but were met with resistance from dozens of local residents, who blocked their way and some even attacked them. The police on the spot detained the three for inspection, while dozens of locals gathered around them, terrorizing them and preventing them from exercising their right to vote.
The observers fled in their vehicle, but were pursued by several attackers in vehicles and on motorcycles. During the chase in the city, their vehicle got stuck in traffic, and the attackers smashed the windows with clubs and tried to open the vehicle doors. The three managed to escape, but at the Al-Ayoun intersection they were blocked by rioters who tried to attack them again. Only thanks to the driver's resourcefulness were they able to escape the city.
Attorney Bleicher claimed that this was a "shocking incident in which Many Arab rioters tried to lynch Jews, going on an unbridled rampage with a clear goal of murdering them." He said, "Unfortunately, not a single citizen at the scene bothered to call the police, and the policeman at the polling station did not act to help them either."
According to Honenu, following pressure they exerted, a police investigation was opened, in which several suspects were indicted, but ultimately no indictments were filed. The organization appealed to the State Attorney's Office and is simultaneously pursuing civil litigation with the aim of compensating the victims and deterring, as Adv. Bleicher stated, "anyone who would think of committing terrorism against Jews."