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
Tuesday, February 11, 2025, 9:28 In August 2019, an Arab attacked a Hareidi Jewish family, breaking their car window as they drove through the Beit Hanina neighborhood of Jerusalem. The father was injured by the shattered glass, and briefly lost consciousness. The Arab was arrested.
The prosecution and the defendant came to a sentencing agreement of 12 months’ imprisonment and NIS 3,000 in compensation for the family. However, Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge Bialin Elazar ruled that the incident was a hate crime and canceled the agreement. He increased the sentence to 23 months’ imprisonment and the compensation to NIS 10,000.
The defendant appealed the ruling to the Jerusalem District Court. The State Attorney’s office sided with the defendant’s appeal. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, representing the family, demanded that the ruling of the Magistrates Court be honored and the cancellation of the agreement be upheld. A District Court panel headed by Judge Hava Lomp accepted Attorney Bleicher’s arguments regarding the cancellation of the agreement. However, the panel reduced the sentence to 14 months’ imprisonment after the State Attorney’s office claimed that they would not have requested a stiffer penalty than that, even without the arrangement. The panel upheld the ruling of NIS 10,000 in compensation that the lower court had set. Following the criminal conviction, Attorney Bleicher, acting on behalf of the family in civil proceedings, recently filed an NIS 440,000 suit against the assailant.
The attack is described in the indictment: “On August 19, 2019, the defendant sat on a bench near Gan Eden Square in the Beit Hanina neighborhood of Jerusalem, as cars passed by. After many cars passed, the claimants’ car arrived on the scene. Their three young children, aged three, two and one, were sitting in the back seat. The defendant noticed that the claimant had a Hareidi Jewish appearance, approached him, and kicked the car door window, shattering glass onto the claimant’s face. The claimant, who was injured in his neck and left arm, briefly lost consciousness.”
Attorney Bleicher underscored the need for accurately classifying attacks: “Many lessons should be learned from this case, and it reveals the need for a thorough ‘house cleaning.’ An antisemitic attack on a family was presented by the prosecution as if it were simply an assault. Unfortunately, very often Jews are attacked solely because of their faith, but for various reasons the indictment does not reflect the motive of the assailant. There is an urgent need for rectification. Because of our efforts at the appellate phase, the District Court of Appeals did not accept the State Attorney’s position. However, the court was forced to reduce the penalty due to faulty handling by the prosecution. We demand that the widespread antisemitic terror in the capital of Israel be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We will continue to act with all legal means to deter terrorists and exact a heavy price from them for their crimes.”