A bullet that penetrated the apartment; Photo courtesy of the family
Please click here for a list of posts relating to the mid-May Arab rioting throughout Israel and here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu has represented victims of rock or Molotov cocktail attacks.
Sunday, September 12, 2021, 11:43 Mor Janashvilli was brutally attacked in an attempted murder by dozens of Arabs in Acco on May 12, at the time of Arab rioting during Operation Guardian of the Walls. Approximately one week ago, at four in the morning, at least four shots were fired into the home of Janashvilli’s aunt in Acco. Three shots penetrated the home through the window blinds and one shot penetrated a neighbor’s home. The address of the aunt’s home appears on Janashvilli’s ID card, which was stolen during the attack, as his place of residence. The police claim that the shots were intended for an adjacent apartment, in which a known criminal lives.
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher demanded police protection for Janashvilli: “There is a genuine concern that the gunfire was aimed at Mor. The facts lead to the conclusion that my client is under threat. There is a concern that the shooters’ goal is to prevent my client from fighting for prosecution to the full extent of the law of the terrorists who attempted to brutally murder him.”
Mor Janashvilli (seated in wheelchair) and his brother; Photo credit: Honenu
At one of the hearings in the trial, family members of the suspects threatened Mor and his brother inside the courthouse. Mor described the incident: “Before the hearing began, several Arabs came and pointed an accusatory finger at me, [yelled] that I was a terrorist, that I ran over somebody. They almost attacked my brother. They told him, ‘We will murder you,’ as the suspects were openly smiling.”
His brother added: “I was with him [in the courthouse]. As soon as everything heated up one of the terrorists hissed at me and said, in precisely these words, ‘I’m from Acco. I’ll see to it that we murder you.'”
Bleicher sent a letter to the Coastal District Police Commander demanding that the shooters be apprehended, that the GSS be involved with the investigation, and that Mor be provided with police protection. Bleicher added: “The citizens of Israel are in grave danger from terrorists from within, who do not refrain from any means or from any target in their murderous ways. We demand that the leaders of the State pull themselves together and fight back against murderous terror. The Supreme Court must not release the perpetrators of attempted murder in mob attacks on Jews while the terror continues to increase and deepen.”
Mor Janashvilli: “The entire family has been traumatized by the attempted murder, and the shooting has only increased the trauma. We simple do not understand how such a thing could happen. How is it logical that ‘A free people in our own Land,’ is only a line in the national anthem?
“There is no doubt at all that whoever the shooter is, tried to silence me. They threatened us in the courthouse. And where are the police? Time after time we warned the police and nobody paid any attention. I feel as if I’m going around with a target on my head. One never knows where [an attack] will come from. I hope very much that the shooters will be handled with an iron fist and that the matter will be treated with utmost seriousness, because at the moment, the Israeli Police are not taking this seriously. For the entire time, also after the shooting, we have demanded that they find [the terrorists]. I will not tolerate my family’s life being at risk or having to continue going around with a target on my head.”
Mor Janashvilli was attacked in Acco by dozens of Arab rioters who charged at his car and pelted it with large rocks, heavy furniture, and anything else they could get their hands on. Janashvilli lost control of his car and drove it into a wall. Janashvilli, who was injured, fled his car with his hands over his head. The Arab mob beat him with metal and wooden bars, punched him and kicked him until he collapsed on the ground in a semi-conscious state. Janashvilli resigned himself to a horrible death and then felt his face being cut with a knife.
Janashvilli was saved at the last moment, apparently by Arabs who rescued him from the site and called the emergency services. He was evacuated by ambulance to the hospital, suffering from bruises on his entire body, broken bones, cuts on his face, partial paralysis in his left leg, headaches, and dizziness.