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 Chayim Bleicher; Photo credit: Honenu
Wednesday, September 25, 2024, 15:14 Following an appeal by Honenu, the police have announced that they are reopening the case of a menacing Arab bus driver working for the Egged Bus Company. A year ago, the bus driver threatened to murder a Hareidi Jewish passenger. The passenger complained to the police about the incident, but the case was closed two days later. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher appealed the decision to the State Attorney’s office, and the police reopened the case.
In the appeal, Attorney Bleicher described the incident: “My client was standing at the Yermiyahu/Elkana bus stop in Jerusalem when a number 65 Egged bus passed without stopping. My client walked to the next stop and boarded the bus. He asked the driver why he had not stopped for him. The driver claimed that the bus had been full. My client countered that his failure to stop had nothing to do with the amount of people on the bus. Then the driver yelled at my client, ‘Don’t you tell me what to do!’ At some point, the driver stopped the bus, stood up, and shouted at my client, ‘Don’t you tell me what to do. When I get to the next stop, I’m going to take your head off.’ When they arrived at the Yermiyahu/Argaman stop, the driver lifted the hand brake and opened his protective door, as if he were planning to attack my client. Those were terrifying moments for my client, filled with fear. My client fled to the back of the bus, and the driver returned to his seat. At the next stop, my client disembarked because he feared for his life.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher commented on the case: “We are pleased with the reopening of the case and hope that the violent driver will be convicted. He is the equivalent of a ticking time bomb for bus passengers.”