50,000 NIS compensation in assault case

Monday, May 11, 2020, 13:04 In a compromise agreement in the framework of a civil suit, the Jerusalem District Court ruled that one of the assailants who attacked two hareidi brothers in the City of David in 2018 will pay them 50,000 NIS in compensation. This sum is in addition to 40,000 NIS in compensation which the Jerusalem Magistrates Court ruled that the other assailant in the same attack must pay the brothers in December 2019. It was a severe assault in which the brothers suffered not only physical injury, but also emotional and religiously motivated abuse.
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is representing the brothers: “These rulings in the civil case which obligate the assailants to pay a total of 90,000 NIS are the conclusion of wide-ranging legal work. This incident initially did not receive proper attention. The Terror Victims Department of Honenu brought the assault and the abuse to the forefront of the discourse, and demanded that the assailants be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, which led to their detention, and the indictment and imprisonment of one of them.”
Bleicher mentioned the legal battle against the assailant who was not convicted: “We fought for the conviction of the second assailant, a battle which came to a petition to the Supreme Court. Simultaneously we filed a civil suit against both assailants. The assailant who succeeded in avoiding a criminal case was forced to pay compensation. We are certain that the proceedings, and also the results, have created a strong deterrence factor and will prevent incidents of anti-Semitic abuse. We will continue to fight, to pressure and to make great efforts so that every nationalistically motivated anti-Semitic attack receives due attention and is treated seriously, so that the phenomenon will be eradicated.”
The assault occurred in early 2018, on a Shabbat morning, near the City of David neighborhood of Jerusalem when the two young brothers were walking to Ma’ayan HaShiloah (The Pool of Siloam). As they walked down to the site, they encountered two Arab youths who started to beat them. The brothers escaped, hid and then continued to Ma’ayan HaShiloah.
On their return they again encountered the two Arab youths, who blocked their way. One of the youths took the brothers’ payot and tied them to each other as the other filmed the abuse on his cellphone. They also beat the brothers as they forced them to repeat statements denigrating Israel and praising Hamas. The youths also forced the brothers to say the “Shahada”, the prayer from the Islamic conversion ceremony. Then they bent the brothers’ heads down and forced them to kiss their hands as they kicked them. At some point during the assault the brothers succeeded in fleeing the scene.
The following day the brothers filed a complaint with the Jerusalem Police and positively identified the two Arab assailants. However only one of them was convicted. The office of the Attorney General claimed that the identification of the other assailant had been contaminated. After the conviction of the first suspect, Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is representing the brothers, received the evidence in the case and was convinced that there was sufficient evidence to convict the second suspect. Bleicher therefore filed an appeal, which was rejected by the Attorney General’s office, and then appealed to the Supreme Court. Subsequently, the brothers filed a civil suit against the assailant who had not been convicted and he was ordered to pay 40,000 NIS compensation. Currently the first assailant, who was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment, will pay the brothers 50,000 NIS in compensation.