The man spent the night in custody and was released the next morning to two days of house arrest in exchange for a 3,000-shekel ($913) bond.
The assailants were released under restrictive conditions on the day of the attack
A resident of Jerusalem’s Armenian Quarter was assaulted by Jewish youths on November 14 and subsequently detained by Israel Police along with them.
While the assailants were released under restrictive conditions, the victim, Georgie Awad, spent the night in custody and was released the next morning to two days of house arrest in exchange for a 3,000-shekel ($913) bond. Awad’s wife and daughter were also asked to report to the police station, but were released later that evening.
Awad recounted the assault in a conversation with Haaretz, saying it occurred as he was on his way to help his wife park the car. According to him, the attackers suddenly appeared, began pounding on the vehicle, and threatened his wife.
“I went to see if my wife was okay; I didn’t lay a hand on anyone,” Awad told Haaretz. “Someone struck me on the head and another choked me,” he added.
Security camera footage from the scene shows Awad attempting to open the car door before being shoved to the ground and beaten by the youths. His wife then emerges from the vehicle, and one of the assailants also pushes her.
Awad said the couple were rescued by Armenian residents who happened to pass by and noticed what was happening. When police arrived, the attackers fled toward the Jewish Quarter but were eventually apprehended. According to Awad, his own questioning lasted only ten minutes.
The assault on Awad comes amid a rise in attacks on Christian residents of Jerusalem, clergy members, and their institutions. According to data from the “Hotline” project, which documents harassment of Christians in the city, 144 incidents have been recorded since the start of the year, including 92 cases of spitting at residents, 18 verbal assaults, and two physical attacks – one involving stone-throwing.
Police said in a statement that “upon receiving the report of the violent incident in Jerusalem’s Old City, officers swiftly arrived at the scene and acted decisively, arresting five suspects involved in the attack. The suspects were questioned and detained, and brought before the court as the police requested an extension of their remand.
Although the court acknowledged the danger posed by their actions, it decided to release them under restrictive conditions. We note that at no stage was the victim arrested; he was only detained for questioning on suspicion of involvement in the altercation and released once questioning concluded.”
In a separate development, the Supreme Court increased the sentence of Imri Hoffman, a settler who took part in a 2022 assault on Palestinians in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, from nine months of community service to two years in prison.
According to the indictment, Hoffman struck neighborhood resident Mohammed Zahran forcefully on the head with a stick, causing serious injury. In their ruling, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit and Justices Chaled Kabub and Yechiel Meir Kasher said the lower court had failed to consider the racist motive behind the attack and sentencing norms in comparable cases.
Detailing Hoffman’s actions, the justices wrote that “everything was done solely because of the victim’s ethnic affiliation. Under such circumstances, a community-service sentence cannot stand.”
Nir Hasson is an Israeli journalist and reporter for Haaretz.
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