An appeal was filed with the State Attorney's Office to close the investigation file in the case of a young Jew who was attacked in Be'er Sheva by a number of Bedouin, one of whom beat him with an iron rod and broke his jaw.
The attack took place about a year and a half ago. R.,The victim, who is not a resident of the city, waited with his girlfriend in a parking lot near his friend's house.
The victim said that while the three of them were driving to the friend's house, a vehicle in front of them signaled to them that their car lights were too bright. The victim, who was driving, apologized and continued to park near the friend's house.
However, the driver of the other vehicle drove in reverse, got out of his vehicle and began threatening the victim, who managed to calm him down, and the driver even gave him his first name - Rami.
The Bedouin turned to the woman who was with him in the car, Natalia, and told her "go call Iyad." Natalia returned shortly afterwards, followed by another vehicle carrying a group of Bedouin. Rami and Iyad took out rods from the trunk of the vehicle, and approached the victim in a threatening manner.
The victim asked Rami to put the rods away. Rami complied, but Iyad struck the victim on the jaw with the iron rod. The appeal states that Iyad was the only one standing next to R. other than Rami, so it is clear that Iyad was the one who hit him and broke his jaw.
The victim lost consciousness, at the same time a woman with the attacker broke the window of the car with a stone. The attackers fled as the victim began to regain consciousness. The victim was hospitalized at Soroka Medical Center for several days with a fractured jaw.
He filed a complaint with the police, giving the names of the suspects he knew. Attorney Chaim Bleicher of the Honenu organization later asked the police to collect testimony from his girlfriend as well, but no steps were taken about the case for months. Only after about six months were two suspects arrested and the additional witnesses questioned, but the prosecution has since decided to close the case.
In his appeal to the State Attorney's Office, attorney Bleicher noted that "despite the many failures in the investigation, there are enough well-founded evidence and confessions in the investigation to accuse the suspects." Among other things, the testimony of the victim's girlfriend matches his testimony, and she even identified Rami and provided details about the other attackers.
"Natalia, who was in the first car with Rami, also testifies that Rami took a rod in his hand and put it down. She also tied Iyad to the scene of the attack."
The petition to the prosecution argued that "the proven facts are sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the two suspects were complicit in the appellant's assault, the facts to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the threats of the two suspects and [...] Iyad's role in attacking the appellant and striking him in the jaw. The obvious conclusion is that it is possible to prove the full criminal responsibility of the suspects and prosecute them."
Attorney Bleicher said that “the victim of the offense applied to the organization for assistance after being suffering a serious injury that required months of rehabilitation in which he could not eat and was fed only through fluids, and after despite filing the complaint the necessary steps were not taken to investigate the incident. Only after our insistence did an investigation begin that led to the arrest of the suspects who eventually tied themselves to the incident. Unfortunately and surprisingly, the prosecutor's office chose to close the case despite the suspects' confessions."
"We demand the prosecution of all the accomplices in the crime and the execution of justice against them. We in the Honenu organization have joined the case on the understanding that the continued crime and violence of Bedouins in the south is a national danger, and therefore violent incidents should be treated with the utmost severity and with zero tolerance."