Attorney Ofir Steiner of the Honenu legal aid organization wrote a letter to the police requesting that they open an investigation into the incident a week and a half ago in which a passenger bus “accidentally” crashed into four yeshivah bochurim at a kayak rental at the Jordan River in the north.

The driver of the bus was a Bedouin Arab and the police appeal came after a number of witnesses to the scene claimed that the ramming was intentional.

In his letter, Attorney Steiner cites the witnesses’ testimonies about the incident, explaining that his client, a victim of the ramming, was on a vacation together with his son along with dozens of yeshivah bochurim, most of them minors. After kayaking, the members of the groups were waiting in the parking lot of the rental site for a bus to the next location on the planned itinerary. “A bus arrived and when the members of the group began to walk toward it, the bus suddenly began to accelerate at great speed, racing directly toward the bochurim. The victim warned the bochurim, who fled in all directions but some of them didn’t succeed in time and were hit by the bus.”

“The victim was hit directly by the bus, which knocked him to the ground and ran over his lower body. The bus stopped only after hitting the victim and he remained standing on the victim’s right leg – until the victim’s son, along with others, shouted at him to move. The driver then moved a few meters forward and stopped again. The driver then got up from the driver’s seat and didn’t get off the bus until the police arrived at the scene.”

Steiner added that witnesses described the incident as a terror attack to the police officers who arrived at the scene but were not heeded. “When the police officers arrived at the scene, the driver claimed that he lost control of the bus, which went backward. This is what the police officers told the witnesses who asked to testify that it was a terror attack. To the astonishment of the witnesses, the police officers refused to record the testimonies of the witnesses or register official complaints. Some of them were even told that it was an ‘unfortunate accident’ and ordered them to step aside and let them handle the scene, without letting them convey their testimonies.”

“The victim, along with others who turned to the police, said clearly that the driver drove forward, speeding directly at the bochurim. Eyewitnesses say that they saw him turn the wheel directly towards the group of young people, with a look on his face of a deliberate desire to hurt them. The brakes of the bus were in good condition as the driver stopped immediately after hitting the victim who was standing last in the group, and afterward continued a few meters forward and stopped again.”

In his letter, Attorney Steiner demanded that the police immediately investigate the incident and collect testimony from all the witnesses who were there.

“We received inquiries from a large number of witnesses, all of whom reported that the driver accelerated suddenly and deliberately drove toward a group of bochurim. We were amazed to hear from them that the police officers on the ground refused to hear the claimss of those around them, and instead tried to ‘close’ the incident as quickly as possible, labeling it as an accident.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)