Please click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu has represented victims of rock or Molotov cocktail attacks and click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem.
Sunday, December 4, 2022, 12:19 Honenu Attorney Ophir Steiner: “Filing civil suits for compensation is an inseparable part of creating deterrence and exacting justice from terrorists. They must know that not only will they be penalized, but they will pay out of their own pockets for the damage that they cause.”
An Arab resident of East Jerusalem threw Molotov cocktails at Jewish homes in the Abu-Tor neighborhood of Jerusalem and caused a fire approximately one year ago. The police arrested the terrorist immediately after the incident and filed an indictment against him. He was convicted of aggravated assault in an act of terror and operating a weapon in an act of terror. In July 2022, in light of his young age, the court handed down penalties of 25 months’ active imprisonment and a suspended sentence. The terrorist was also obligated to pay 6,000 NIS in compensation.
Now that the terrorist has been convicted and is serving the sentence imposed on him, three victims are suing him for 200,000 NIS at the Jerusalem District Court. Honenu Attorney Ophir Steiner, who filed the civil suit on their behalf, detailed the damages caused to them and the mainly emotional pain and suffering that they experienced, and are still experiencing. The victims are asking the court to impose payment of punitive compensation on the terrorist because his crimes were racially and nationalistically motivated.
Excerpt from the suit: “In November 2021, the terrorist joined two other youths with the aim of throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at the residential complex in the Abu-Tor neighborhood of Jerusalem in which Jewish families reside. They were ideologically and nationalistically motivated. When they arrived at the site, they hurled a large number of Molotov cocktails. One of the flaming bottles penetrated the fence [of the complex] and exploded on a bedroom window where members of the household were present. As a result, the window curtain ignited, and the fire spread in the room. The mother of the family extinguished the fire with a blanket. Four more Molotov cocktails exploded and burned in the yard of the complex at the doorway of another claimant. Her young grandchildren were sleeping in the next room at the time. She noticed the quickly spreading fire and put it out with a fire extinguisher to protect her grandchildren. This was despite the risk to herself from the Molotov cocktails that the terrorists continued to throw at [the complex] while she extinguished the fire.”