Please click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem.
Monday, February 20, 2023, 13:46 The Jerusalem Magistrates Court approved a compromise agreement in a civil suit against an Arab who threw rocks at and injured a Jewish resident of the Beit Orot neighborhood of Jerusalem approximately two years ago. The plaintiff was awarded 10,000 NIS in compensation. Honenu Attorney Ophir Steiner filed the suit on behalf of the victim. The assailant confessed to racially-motivated rioting and common assault and was convicted in a plea bargain. The court handed down a seven-month prison sentence and an additional suspended sentence. After the accused was convicted, the victim sued the assailant for personal compensation.
In the statement of claim, Steiner described the attack: “On 5.7.2021, several fireworks were shot at Beit Orot [by Arabs], causing a brushfire [on adjacent wasteground]. Several recognizably Jewish residents, among them the claimant, went out to extinguish the fire. After it was extinguished, the residents remained near the entrance to the compound. At approximately 23:50, a disturbance began on Shmuel Ben Adaya Street, during which dozens of rioters threw dozens of rocks at Beit Orot and its residents from a distance of approximately 10-20 meters. The defendant took part in the rioting… [His] actions were racially motivated.”
Steiner detailed what the claimant had endured: “The claimant experienced pain and suffering during the violent incident when dozens of rocks were hurled at him, causing him to fear for his life. During the long terror-filled moments the claimant’s leg was injured, further increasing his fear. The claimant was uncertain of the physical condition in which he would survive the incident, if at all.”
Steiner welcomed the ruling and said, “Directly suing the perpetrators of terror attacks or acts of hostility is extremely important. In addition to serving a prison sentence, they are forced to pay compensation out of their own pockets. Thus, monetary compensation follows criminal penalization and strengthens deterrence.”