One of the injured students; Photo credit: Free use
Monday, June 21, 2021, 8:41 In a plea bargain agreement, the Teverya Magistrates Court handed down active prison terms to the three assailants of several yeshiva students at the Mifgash Arbel gas station outside of Migdal in the north of Israel in February 2021. The court also imposed on the assailants payment of compensation to the victims. In the framework of the plea bargain, the defendants admitted to the crimes of assault and significant injury by two or more assailants and injury by an armed criminal. See here and here for details of the attack.
Two of the assailants were sentenced to ten months’ imprisonment and the third was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment. Suspended sentences were also handed down to all three. Payment of 10,000 NIS in compensation to the victims was imposed on each of the assailants (total 30,000 NIS).
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who represented the victims: “This was a serious and severe attack. Unfortunately racist motives were not attributed to the assailants from the start. Despite difficulties with the evidence in the case, we, on behalf of the victims, insisted that the plea bargain include a substantial prison sentence and significant compensation.
One of the injured students; Photo credit: Free use
“We are pleased that the Teverya Police Claims Department invested great effort in the case and fought so that the assailants would not be released to their homes and would be sentenced to active prison terms. We intend to file a civil suit against the defendants, to increase deterrence against antisemitic assailants, so that everyone will know that it is not worth it to attack someone simply for being Jewish.”
Yehuda, one of the victims: “This attack was serious and shocking. We stopped to fill the gas tank. They yelled at us, cursed us, and came after us with metal bars. They didn’t stop beating us, and they also pulled our payot. In the end the driver tried to run me over. At the last moment I jumped to the side. I was sure that was the end of us.
“It is reassuring to know that the assailants will sit in jail, in addition to paying compensation. I hope that this penalty will cause others to think twice before attacking Jews like this.”
The incident occurred on February 7. Several Breslev yeshiva students were attacked at the Mifgash Arbel gas station outside of Migdal in the north of Israel. Arabs attacked the students with metal bars, called out racist statements and pulled their payot. Then the assailants got into their car and the driver drove wildly in the direction of the injured students as he shouted, “Allahu akbar – I’m going to run you over.”
The victims were evacuated to the Poriya Hospital in Teverya with serious injuries. One of the injured required stitches in his ear and suffered an injury to his eye socket which is liable to cause a tear in his retina. Another victim suffered an injury to his jaw and required stitches in his lips. Immediately after the incident, one suspect was detained and identified by one of the complainants. The other two suspects were detained within a week.