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
Thursday, July 17, 2025, 14:26 Four years ago, an Arab cruelly attacked a Hareidi yeshiva student as he was walking to Ma’ayan HaShiloah (The Pool of Siloam) in Jerusalem. The student, a Bnei Brak resident learning at a yeshiva in the City of David neighborhood, was attacked for no reason other than his Hareidi appearance. The Arab assailant, who was a minor at the time, was arrested and sentenced to four months’ community service. The victim was also awarded NIS 10,000 in criminal proceedings.
In January 2025, Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher filed a civil suit against the assailant on behalf of the victim. The assailant did not file a statement of defense. Recently, Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge Efrat Racheli Meiri awarded the victim NIS 115,000.
The statement of claim describes the attack: “Without any preliminary interaction or provocation on the part of the claimant, the defendant approached him. Motivated by antisemitism, the defendant lifted the claimant’s hat and cursed him, ‘Get out of here, you S.O.B.’ The defendant responded, ‘Don’t touch me,’ and then the defendant attacked him.
“The defendant pinned the claimant to the wall as he beat him, shoved him, and then slammed him into a parked car and punched his face and head. The claimant was in pain, and the defendant had broken his glasses. The defendant continued to beat the claimant until an adult who was at the scene separated them.
“The defendant attacked a man, caused him actual injury, and maliciously damaged property. His motive is classified as racism or hostility toward a population, due to their affiliation with a nationalist-ethnic group.”
The attacked yeshiva student testified: “I was walking, minding my own business, and I was attacked with cruelty and malice. The defendant cursed, pummeled, shoved, and punched me, and also broke my glasses. I need glasses with a strong prescription. I was forced to go without glasses for a long time, until I received new glasses, which caused me distress and negatively affected my daily routine.”
“I felt pain in my entire body, humiliation, insult, lack of confidence and fear. Since the attack, I have been afraid to walk past the site. In general, I have avoided all contact with Arabs out of fear that they would injure me again. I seldom pray at the Western Wall, something I used to do frequently, and that causes me great sorrow.”
Attorney Bleicher, who is representing the claimant as a victim of terror, issued a statement: “Antisemitic attacks in the capital of Israel are intolerable. All available means must be used to eradicate acts of terror against Jews. We must deter Arab assailants. After following the criminal proceedings against the assailant, we continued by filing a civil suit. The next step is implementing the ruling. We will continue to use all legal means and methods to counteract terror, and return a sense of security for the Jewish public in Jerusalem and in all of Israel.”