Please click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem.
Sunday, June 26, 2022, 12:36 Eli Rozen was brutally attacked by rioting Arabs in the Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood of Jerusalem in April 2021. In mid-June 2022, Rozen, accompanied by Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, was present at a penalty hearing at the Jerusalem District Court for two of the adult attackers and asked the judges to hand down a stiff penalty to them, to substantially increase the deterrence factor. The office of the State Attorney requested sentences of seven and nine years’ imprisonment for the two adult attackers.
After the hearing, Eli Rozen stated: “We were at a hearing for the terrorists who attempted to murder me. We hope and expect that the court will be stringent with them, will hand down a suitable penalty and will not be lenient with them, and will not accept all sorts of claims that they are pitiful or that their parents are divorced, or all sorts of things like that. I hope that the court will understand that this was an attempted murder for the sake of murder, solely because I am a Jew in the Land of Israel, and will not be lenient, because many times [the courts] accept all kinds of insane claims and release [terrorists].”
Rozen further warned: “When [the courts] are lenient with acts such as attempted murder, it is a very big problem for every citizen. Everyone must participate in this struggle so that there won’t be another attack. After all, we are here after many years of exile, not so that [our enemies] can beat us up again, and not so those who attack us will receive prizes and grants from the Palestinian Authority, and also from the State of Israel in prison. We must stop this, stand up for ourselves, and not allow this to happen again. We hope that the court will be stringent with them and that we will not hear about another terrorist who was released after he tried to murder Jews.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is representing Eli Rozen, also spoke after the hearing: “It is a miracle that Eli came out of this on his feet. In our opinion, there are no grounds for leniency. The terrorists tried to arouse the judge’s pity. But it is with us, the citizens of Israel who are under terror attacks, that one must be merciful. If there is no deterrent and the terrorists are not stiffly penalized, then the next attack is already on its way.
The office of the State Attorney requested a seven-year sentence for one of the adult terrorists and a nine-year sentence for another. We expect the judge to accede to the request and hand down the penalty that they deserve,” concluded Bleicher.
Eli Rozen was attacked in the Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood on April 23, 2021, during the Arab rioting in Jerusalem. Rozen finished prayers at the Tomb of Shimon HaTzadik and started to walk to his home in the Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood, past dozens of rioters. They completely surrounded him, and then punched him, kicked him, beat him with wooden clubs, threw large rocks and other objects at him, and used an electric shocker on him. Rozen suffered bruises, swelling, cuts, and three broken vertebrae. His attackers posted video clips of the incident on social media. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher has been assisting Rozen throughout the trial.
In early April 2022, two of the attackers, who were 17-year-old minors at the time, received light sentences due to their age: two and a half years’ imprisonment and two years’ imprisonment. They were convicted of aggravated assault in an act of terror and rioting.
The attack; Video taken from Telegram, social media