Please click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem.
Wednesday, September 21, 2022, 18:03 Jerusalem District Court Judge Eli Abarbanel handed down a 33-month active sentence and a 6-month suspended sentence to a terrorist who attacked a Jew at Sha’ar Shechem (Damascus Gate). The terrorist broke the victim’s nose and glasses and damaged his bicycle. Judge Arbanel also imposed payment of 20,000 NIS on the terrorist as compensation to the victim. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher is representing the victim.
The attack occurred in May 2021. The victim was riding his bicycle past Sha’ar Shechem in Jerusalem as several people, among them the terrorist and an additional defendant in the case, were cleaning the street with brooms and squeegee mops. When the terrorist noticed the victim, he beat him with the handle of his mop. The victim fell off of his bicycle and tried to flee the scene, but the terrorist chased him with a broom and beat him repeatedly with it.
The victim fell to the ground, and then the terrorist, the other defendant, and several other street cleaners beat him several times with their brooms and mops. The victim’s nose was broken and his glasses and helmet were damaged. The terrorist was arrested and has been held in Rimon Prison since his arrest. He will serve his sentence there. The terrorist was a minor at the time of the attack, and therefore his name may not be publicized. He was convicted in a plea bargain of an act of terror, aggravated assault, and racially motivated malicious vandalism.
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher welcomed the decision: “This was a life-threatening antisemitic attack. In comparison to the usual ruling for this type of incident when the terrorist is a minor, the length of the sentence and the amount of the compensation awarded are to some extent an accomplishment. We thank the office of the Jerusalem District Attorney for their work on the case. In any event, we are of the opinion that the current penalties are insufficient deterrence. Penalties for terrorists, including minors, must be significantly stiffer. We will continue to work with victims of terror to further increase the maximum penalty.”