The broken toe; Photograph courtesy of the photographer
Wednesday, May 3, 2023, 9:40 Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher wrote a letter to the police demanding that they arrest three Arabs who attacked a Jew in Nof HaGalil and broke his toe in mid-April. The police detained the assailants but released them after only one day, citing that the assault was criminal, not nationalistic.
In his letter, Attorney Bleicher described the brutal attack: “My client, a Hareidi Jew who wears traditional clothing, was walking on the street on the way to a dental clinic as three Arabs walked opposite him. When they passed him, one of them made a stabbing motion and cursed him with a racial slur [curse redacted]. My client, who was startled and feared for his life, attempted to defend himself. They increased the attack, jumped on my client, and beat him. At some point, my client’s kippa fell off. One of the assailants took it and threw it into the middle of the street. As a result of the attack, my client’s left big toe was broken, his back was battered and required orthopedic treatment, and he suffered from bruises all over his body. Additionally, my client was caused severe emotional trauma that impedes his ability to function, and he feels fear on an everyday walk in the city.”
Attorney Bleicher continued, “My client filed a complaint at your station over the incident. To the best of his knowledge, suspects were detained but released the following day under the condition of merely not making contact with him, and the incident was classified as ‘criminal’ only. This was an extremely serious attack in which a Jew was humiliated in a racially motivated attack in the middle of a city, only because he was a Jew and had a Jewish appearance. The incident began with harassment, intimidation, and an explicitly racial slur. There is nothing more blatant than that to indicate the motives of the assailants.”
In conclusion, Attorney Bleicher demanded that the police arrest and charge the assailants: “I am certain that you intend to regard racially motivated incidents with due severity and not to belittle and disregard them. Forgiving treatment and turning a blind eye to the nationalist motivation of the crime greatly hurt the feelings of the victim and are likely to lead to additional and more serious attacks. I ask you to prosecute all of the suspects and to summon them to additional interrogations, as many as are required, so that they will be put on trial in a manner that corresponds to the severity of the act.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher stated, “Islamic terror greatly harms Israeli citizens throughout Israel. Terrorists search for victims everywhere and anywhere. The Israel Police, the courts, and the State of Israel must take charge and rid Israel of terrorist threats. We are in our own country, not Europe of 80 years ago. We demand that these assailants be treated as terrorists and for the sake of public safety that they be held in remand until the end of proceedings, when a stiff penalty should be handed down.”