A Jew was attacked by an Arab at Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem, with the incident captured on video and the attacker arrested soon after. However, the Jerusalem police released the attacker and closed the case, leading the victim to appeal the decision through attorney Ofir Steiner from the Honnu organization. The appeal was rejected by the attorney’s office, despite evidence showing the attacker had initially denied responsibility and changed his story. Attorney Steiner called for greater enforcement against even minor cases of violence against Jews, as many suffered from various forms of violent persecution on the streets and did not feel safe in central areas of the city.
First publication: The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office rejected an appeal filed by a Jew who was attacked about a year ago by an Arab at the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem, despite a video recording the attack and the arrest of the attacker a few seconds after the attack.
Shortly after the arrest of the attacker, the Jerusalem police released him and decided to close the case. The attacking Jew filed an appeal against the decision through attorney Ofir Steiner from the Honnu organization, but as mentioned, the appeal was rejected by the attorney’s office.
The attack happened in May 2022, during which the Jew was walking on his way to the Shabbat evening prayer at the Western Wall. When the Jew arrived at the Jaffa Gate Square, an Arab suddenly arrived, blocked his path, shouted at him ‘Go away’ and cursed him rudely.
The young Jewish man took out his phone to record the attacker’s actions, at which point the attacker landed a strong blow on the Jew’s arm, until the phone flew from his hand to the ground.
Undercover police officers who witnessed what was happening immediately arrested the attacker, and the Jew filed a complaint at the nearby police station. However, as mentioned, the attacker was released, and the police closed the investigation file.
In the appeal filed by Attorney Steiner, it was stated that the investigation materials show that the attacker initially denied what happened, and claimed that a child passing by caused the cell phone to fall. Later, he changed his version and admitted that he shouted at the Jew to ‘get away’ and that he noticed that it was a Jew because of his clothing.
Steiner also noted that the video of the incident matches the version of the Jew who was attacked, the eyewitness testimony and the action reports of the police officers, in contrast to the version of the attacker – which is evolving, incoherent, causes difficulties and is full of attempts to distance himself from the crime.
Attorney Steiner responded to the prosecutor’s office’s decision to reject the appeal against the police’s decision to close the case, saying that “besides major terrorist incidents, we are also witnessing an increase in the number of relatively less serious attacks. Unfortunately, the prosecutor’s office is not yet ready to fight against them.”
“Every week we come across another Jew who was ‘just’ shoved with a shoulder blow, ‘just’ hit in the head so that his hat fell to the ground, ‘just’ whipped with a cord or ‘just’ pushed until he fainted. The prosecutor’s office must look at the chain of cases and understand that Jews don’t feel like moving Safely in central areas of the capital city. Enforcement must begin immediately even in ‘minor’ cases (as defined by the attorney general’s office), so that they will be seen and be seen. We must not put up with the violent persecution of Jews on the streets of the State of Israel for a moment.”