Monday, September 19, 2022, 11:33 Two and a half months ago, the police informed Honenu that the investigative case against a mob of dozens of Arab construction workers who brutally attacked and injured two Jewish construction workers at a construction site in Ra’anana had been closed. Honenu Attorneys Chayim Bleicher and Ophir Steiner have demanded that the case be reopened and the attackers be brought to justice.
Honenu: “There is no doubt that the time that has passed since the incident exacerbates the difficulty of effectively investigating the attack. However, the Israel Police is responsible for the security of Israeli citizens and must make the effort to rectify the failure and bring the attackers to justice.”
In an appeal to the State Attorney, Honenu Attorneys Bleicher and Steiner requested that the case be reopened and the Central Unit of the Central District Police and the GSS be involved with the investigation. They also asked for more investigative actions to be taken and more evidence to be gathered, including information and photographs from the check-in system of the workers at the construction site.
Honenu Attorneys Bleicher and Steiner also complained that for almost a month, the police did not make an effort to bring the dozens of workers who were involved with the attack in for interrogation. They stated that the police demanded that the construction site security officer present them with a list of the workers at the site for the purpose of conducting a police lineup to identify suspects, but he did not. Additionally, although the security cameras at the entrance to the site photographed the faces of everyone who entered the site on the day of the attack, they have not been examined, even though they are likely to assist with identifying the attackers.
The attack occurred in December 2021 at a construction site in Ra’anana. Dozens of Arab construction workers beat two Jewish construction workers with metal bars, tools, and whatever else they could grab. Only the arrival of the victims’ work manager, who threatened the attackers with his pistol, stopped the attack.
The injured victims were evacuated to the hospital. One of them was released after several hours and immediately went to the K’far Saba Police Station to file a complaint. He was surprised when the interrogations officer ordered him to be interrogated under warning, and then placed him under five days of house arrest.
The other victim was hospitalized overnight and then released from the hospital to recuperate at home. Due to the severity of his injuries, he was readmitted to the hospital. When he went to the Kfar Saba Police Station to file a complaint, he was also interrogated under warning, and then placed under five days of house arrest.
Later, the police classified the incident as an “altercation,” even though dozens of Arabs attacked two Jews. Additionally, the two victims were brought to the construction site to identify the attackers in a police lineup only after over a month had passed since the attack. Also, the victims’ attorneys demanded that the GSS be involved in the investigation due to the nationalistic motive of the attack, but the police refused.