Arab teen suspected of stabbing 11-year-old to be remanded
Police unsure of the motivation behind attack, recommend a joint investigation with social services
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A 17-year-old Arab youth, suspected of stabbing and wounding an 11-year-old boy on Monday in the central Israeli town of Ramle, will be remanded at the Rishon Lezion Magistrate Court Tuesday.
Investigators recommended the incident be jointly probed by police and social services, the Walla news site reported. Police said it was not initially clear if the attack had a nationalistic or criminal motive.
The 11-year-old Jewish victim told police he was walking home from a neighborhood bodega when an Arab teen asked him for a lighter, and stabbed him when he answered he did not have one.
The boy was hospitalized with moderate injuries, the Magen David Adom emergency service said.
The attacker fled the scene, apparently toward the Jawaresh neighborhood of the city. A short time later, the 17-year-old was arrested a short time later on suspicion of carrying out the attack.
If the juvenile suspect is charged with carrying out a terror attack, he could be tried and sentenced as an adult.
Israel’s penal code defines minors as people under 18 years of age; for the purpose of prosecution for very serious crimes, the minimum age at which they can be tried as adults is 14.
A bill proposed in the Knesset last year, which would lower the minimum age of incarceration for minors convicted of terrorism to 12, gained traction in the plenum after an uptick in terror attacks in which Palestinian teenagers stabbed Israelis.
The Times of Israel Community.