Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado; Photo credit: Honenu
Sunday, April 26, 2020, 13:43 Approximately one month ago, the victim of an attack in the Old City of Jerusalem was awarded compensation of 21,000 NIS in a compromise agreement in a civil suit filed subsequent to a criminal trial in which the assailant was convicted and obligated to pay the victim 5,000 NIS. Half of the sum has already been transferred to the victim and the remainder will be transferred by the month of June.
The assault occurred approximately five years ago, when a Jewish youth was walking on Shalshelet Street in the Old City of Jerusalem. He passed a group of Arabs, to which another Arab bystander, the assailant, joined. Some of the group called out in Arabic to the Jewish youth for him to leave the site and an argument ensued between them.
The assailant approached the youth in a threatening movement and one of the group threw a rock at him, which fell near his feet. Then the Jewish youth opened a bottle of water that he was carrying and sprayed water at the group. In response, the assailant and another Arab from the group chased him, and the rest of the group joined them.
The assailant and his friend caught up to the Jewish youth and attacked him. The assailant jumped on the back of the youth, who fell down a flight of stairs. Then the assailant punched the youth in the face while his friend kicked him and and beat his head. They stopped only when security guards who heard the victim shouting arrived on the scene. The victim suffered a complex fracture in his left arm.
Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado: “There is great importance to filing civil suits against assailants, both in that the victims receive damages and compensation from the assailants who injured them, and more importantly, the suits constitute a deterrence factor. In many of the proceedings in which we reached a compromise and the assailant paid out of his own pocket, we saw a process of internalization and understanding by the assailant that it was the last time that he would dare to attack a Jew. It is very rewarding that we are causing the assailant to compensate the victim and are verifying that the assailant will no longer be part of the circle of those who attack Jews.”