Otniel Elkayam; Photo credit: Honenu
Monday, July 8, 2019, 12:50 Otniel Elkayam, who was injured in a motorcycle ramming aattack in Jerusalem on October 19, 2016, is currently suing the terrorist for over one million NIS for physical and emotional damages caused by the attack. The suit was filed with the Jerusalem District Court on his behalf by Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is representing the injured party and his friend who cared for him during his recuperation from the attack.
The attack is described in the suit: The complainant and a friend were walking near the Mount Zion Hotel in Jerusalem when they heard “the sound of a vehicle’s motor accelerating behind them. The motorcycle driven by the defendant collided intentionally with great force into the complainant from behind, on his left side. From the force of the collision the complainant was thrown into the air and fell to the ground.”
The description continued: “The defendant got up and started to walk towards the complainant’s friend, holding a motorcycle helmet in his right hand and an 11 cm. long knife in his left hand, which he had prepared ahead of time, when he planned the attack. … The complainant’s friend fought for his life and struggled with the defendant. At some point the knife was no longer in the hands of the defendant. Then the defendant began to assault the complainant’s friend with the motorcycle helmet, beating him in the face with it three times.”
Elkayam suffered injuries to his limbs, bruises to his face and required stitches in his head. The friend who was with him was also injured. Currently Elkayam and a friend who took care of him while he recuperated from his injuries are suing the terrorist for over one million NIS in physical, emotional and financial damages.
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is representing the two complainants stated: “We will make every effort to extract the highest price possible from the terrorist. We believe that the war on terror must be fought with all tools possible: house demolitions, expulsion of terrorists’ families, citizenship revocation, penalties for support or assistance of terrorists, and financial penalization of terrorists through legal suits. We will do everything that we can as a civilian organization and expect that the State will increase penalization and expand the deterrence factors against Islamic terrorists.”
After sentencing the terrorist, Morad Rajbi, filed an appeal on the severity of the penalty. The Supreme Court rejected the appeal and a penalty of 15 years imprisonment was imposed on Rajbi.