Please click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem.
Honenu Attorney Bleicher; Photo credit: Honenu
Monday, September 16, 2024, 13:12 Recently, an Arab woman attacked a Jewish man in front of his daughter in Jerusalem. He escaped the attack, called the police and reported the incident. One hour later, he was detained on suspicion of assaulting the woman and interrogated at the police station despite his need for medical treatment. He was transported to the hospital only after his condition worsened. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher wrote a letter to the police demanding that they arrest the assailant.
In the letter, Attorney Bleicher described the incident: “On September 5, 2024, at the French Hill exit to Route 1, my client was assaulted by an Arab woman while driving his 10-year-old daughter to school in Jerusalem. As my client made a right turn to enter the exit circle from French Hill, the suspect was also approaching the circle. The suspect passed my client, drove in front of him, and then abruptly stopped. My client narrowly avoided a collision with her vehicle by braking at the last moment. He initially thought that the sudden stop was unintentional, but then the suspect repeatedly braked suddenly. When my client tried to change lanes, the suspect drove recklessly in zigzags and prevented him from driving safely.
Then the suspect stopped and completely blocked my client and his entire lane. The suspect quickly got out of her car and approached my client in a threatening manner as she shouted that she would kill him and cursed. My client got out of his car, approached the suspect, and stood in front of her. The suspect shoved my client. An Arab motorcyclist at the scene also shoved my client as the suspect violently punched and kicked my client for a long while.”
Attorney Bleicher further detailed how after the police were notified of the incident, they investigated the victim as if he were the assailant instead of assisting him: “[…] At this point, the police phoned my client and asked him to remain in place and wait five minutes for officers to arrive. My client waited for a long time with his hysterical daughter. When he realized that the police would not be arriving soon, he called the 100 emergency number, reported the attack, and informed them that he was taking his daughter home.
“My client went home, and several minutes later the police arrived, banged on his door, detained him, and took him in a police car to the Lev HaBira Police Station. At this stage, my client understood that not only had he fallen victim to an extremely violent attack, but that the suspect had falsely accused him, and he was being taken as a criminal to the police station. My client was taken to the station in the back seat of a police car, behind a partition, without air-conditioning, and forced to wait for an hour and a half in the car, without proper air circulation, despite his informing the officers of his medical condition and his need for medication. Afterward, they took my client to a detention cell because of a delay in the interrogation, which in the end caused him respiratory distress, elevated blood pressure, and a medical condition that necessitated his transport to the hospital. My client was interrogated for a short time as a suspect before he was transported to the hospital. After his condition improved, he was released.”
Attorney Bleicher concluded with a demand to put the assailant on trial. The attorney stated, “The suspect drove recklessly, endangering my client, his 10-year-old daughter, and all of the motorists on the road. She blocked a traffic lane, brutally attacked my client, and threatened him. I demand a thorough investigation and prosecution of the suspect for the serious charges of reckless driving and endangering life.”