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 Bleicher; Photo credit: Honenu
Sunday, March 5, 2023, 14:06 In June 2022, an Arab security guard violently attacked a Jew. The victim filed a complaint with the police, but they closed the case. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher appealed the case closing on behalf of the victim, and several days ago, the police informed him that they would reopen the case.
Attorney Bleicher described the attack in the appeal: “On June 28, 2022, on Bar Ilan Street in Jerusalem, the appellee was cruelly attacked for no reason by an Arab security guard working at a Jerusalem Light Rail infrastructure work site. The appellee was walking on the street when he noticed two Arabs guarding the rail works standing and talking to each other, blocking the narrow passage to pedestrians. A married yeshiva student passing through with a baby carriage asked the guards to move slightly. In response, they yelled at him and humiliated him. The appellee approached the guards and admonished them. They cursed and threatened him in an extremely vulgar and explicit manner. The appellee took out his cell phone and pretended to record them. Then one of the Arabs hit his hand and knocked the phone to the ground.
“When the appellee bent down to pick up his phone, the assailant kneed him in his face. Afterward, once the appellee was holding his phone, the assailant grabbed him and threw him to the ground. The appellee suffered bruises, pain, and an arm sprain. The appellee called the police, who took the personal details of the assailant and instructed the appellee to file a complaint. Additionally, there are several witnesses who can testify about the attack, and almost certainly the incident was recorded by the security cameras on the street.”
Attorney Bleicher underscored that the police closed the case even though the identity of the assailant was known to them: “On June 30, 2022, the undersigned sent a letter to the Lev HaBira Police Station asking them to conduct a thorough investigation, take testimonies from the eyewitnesses, and send a team to gather video clips from the security cameras in the area. However, on November 10, 2022, to his surprise, the appellee was notified by the crime victim notification system that the case had been closed because no suspects had been found. The undersigned requested the investigative material of the case, and on January 3, 2023, received a file only five pages long. The file contained the complaint filed by the appellee with the police and the police action report by the officer who was at the scene. Much to his surprise, the file did not have even one mention indicating an attempt to gather evidence from security cameras at the scene. And there were no interrogations of any suspects. However, a quick review of the report is enough to reveal that the assailant’s name appears in the file, black on white, several times. Therefore, the assailant’s name is known, and the assailant is recorded as a suspect. Why, then, have the police not taken the trouble to at least summon him for interrogation?”
At the conclusion of the appeal, Attorney Bleicher demanded that the investigative case be reopened: “An assault as serious as this should receive fundamental and appropriate treatment, particularly due to the importance of returning a sense of justice and strengthening trust in the police among the Hareidi community. I demand that the case be reopened, and the suspect be summoned for a thorough interrogation. An eyewitness whose personal details appear in the file must also be summoned, and the assailant must be put on trial for his serious acts.” Following the appeal filed by Attorney Bleicher, the police decided to reopen the investigative case.
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher welcomed the decision by the police and said, “We constantly encounter hidden terror, that is to say Islamic terrorists taking advantage of every opportunity to attack, humiliate, and injure Jews. We demand that the police and the Attorney General’s office penalize terrorists to the full extent of the law. On our part, we will make every effort to achieve that end.”