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
Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 13:16 Four years ago, in the Old City of Jerusalem, an Arab resident of the city sprayed a Jew with pepper spray as he cycled home. The Arab was arrested and charged with assault, but not racially motivated assault. He was sentenced to one months’ imprisonment in a plea bargain. The victim was awarded NIS 1,000 in compensation. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, acting on behalf of the family in civil proceedings, recently filed an NIS 125,000 suit against the assailant with the Jerusalem Magistrates Court.
The attack is described in the indictment: “The claimant was cycling home. When he reached Sha’ar Yaffo (Jaffa Gate), he turned left onto Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Street. At the beginning of the street, he noticed an Arab cycling behind him. The defendant started to pass the claimant, and as he was alongside him, shouted in his ear, cursed him, pressed his hand into his face, and gestured obscenely toward him. One hundred meters later, the defendant stopped outside of a drink store and waited until the claimant passed him. The claimant continued cycling with the goal of quickly passing the defendant. When the claimant came close to passing the defendant, the defendant cycled fast toward my client and extended his arm as he grasped a pepper spray canister. He pressed it against the claimant’s face and sprayed directly into his eyes.”
Attorney Bleicher issued a statement: “The claim pertains to an antisemitic incident in which a man was injured solely because of his Jewish appearance. Unfortunately, the State Attorney’s office did not indict the Arab for a racially motivated crime. They transferred the case to the police prosecution, who indicted the Arab for simple assault, despite the obvious motive. As a result, he received a ridiculously lenient penalty. We sued for substantial compensation, including punitive damages, because of the extent of the injury. The severity of the attack necessitates exacting a price that will deter terrorists and eradicate terror attacks.”