Arab bus driver assaulted in Jerusalem says ‘would have died’ if not for fleeing

A Jewish man arrested on suspicion of attacking and robbing an Arab bus driver last week has been released to house arrest, as video footage was clearly documenting the brutal assault.

“If I hadn’t run from the bus I would have died, literally,” said Ahmad Shehadeh, the victim of the beating, in an interview with Channel 13 news that aired Sunday.

Prosecutors plan on filing charges against the suspect this week, after he was caught on film beating Shehadeh as he tried to work his overnight route, the latest attack in recent months targeting Arab bus drivers in the capital.

Dressed in a tank top and kippah, the suspect boarded the bus with his friend at around 1 a.m, near the beginning of the 69 route in Neve Yaakov, a Jewish neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The bus was heading southwest toward Givat Shaul.

According to Shehadeh, the young man came up to him and began cursing him for no reason, demanding the driver provide him with identifying details.

“I said, ‘fine, I’ll give you my details,’” Shehadeh recounted. “He then once again began to curse me and nearly gave me three slaps, [caught] on the camera.” The assailant hit him a fourth time with his phone in hand, inflicting a wound to Shehadeh’s eye.

When Shehadeh tried to defend himself, the assailant began to repeatedly strike him, as can be seen in graphic security camera footage from the vehicle. The attacker’s friend then came up behind Shehadeh and choked him, restraining him as the other man continued to hit him, he told Channel 13.

Warning: Graphic footage

Bus security camera footage shows an Arab driver in Jerusalem attacked overnight on July 15, 2025. (Courtesy/Bus Drivers Association via Channel 13 news)

The two also stole Shehadeh’s phone, the Bus Drivers Association said in a statement. Only one of the assailants was arrested.

Shehadeh managed to flee the bus and ran into other drivers, who helped him get to the hospital, where he received stitches under his left eye. His right eyeball was also ruptured.

“My eyes bled a lot, and I wasn’t able to see,” Shehadeh said. “I had never experienced anything like this in my life.”

Despite law enforcement’s request to extend the suspect’s remand in custody and the footage of the attack, he was released to house arrest, with the court accepting the argument that Shehadeh struck back at his assailant. The decision was unsuccessfully appealed, according to the suspect’s lawyer, Daniel Shimshilashvili, who lauded his client’s release.

Shimshilashvili accused Shehadeh of “going crazy and behaving in a criminal manner,” insisting that it was instead the Jewish passenger who acted in self-defense.

Nevertheless, a prosecutor’s statement was filed against the suspected assailant and an indictment is expected, Channel 13 reported. Police did not respond to a request for comment.

Bus drivers assaulted ‘every one or two days’

Beatings of bus drivers by passengers have become increasingly common in recent months, particularly in Jerusalem, where the vast majority of drivers are Arab.

Many of the attacks are explicitly racially-motivated, with assailants shouting “Death to Arabs” and other anti-Arab curses.

According to the Power to Workers labor union, the attacks have been occurring at least twice a week in Jerusalem after the war with Iran began in mid-June.

Itai Cohen, the head of the union’s transportation branch, told Israel Hayom that the phenomenon typically becomes more frequent in the summer months, with most assailants going unpunished by police and the court system.

According to data from the Bus Drivers’ Association documenting attacks across the entire country, there have been 724 attacks — either physical or verbal — since the start of 2025.

The organization’s head Israel Ganon told The Times of Israel that continued attacks against bus drivers show the government must establish a municipal security unit to guard buses in Jerusalem. He claimed that the funds already exist for such an initiative.

Days after Shehadeh was attacked, another Arab bus driver, Batesh Hatem, who works for the SuperBus company, was beaten by a gang of Jewish soccer fans.

Hatem, who has worked as a bus driver in the capital for nearly two decades, told Army Radio Monday that he came to a stop near Shaare Zedek Medical Center when over 20 Beitar Jerusalem fans boarded his bus.

The gang started blocking the doors and disrupting his driving, Hatem recalled. Soon enough a youth came to the front of the bus and began to curse and spit at him. The cursing devolved into a beating as passengers crowded around the driver.

Hatem was left with lasting pains in his chest and is currently under medical supervision following the attack. He filed a police complaint but no arrests have yet been reported in relation to the incident.

The driver told Army Radio that although he plans to go back to work, he is not prepared to return to operate the 516 route, the line he was assaulted on.

“I’m not the first to be attacked, every one or two days we hear about a driver who was attacked, I don’t know what we’ve come to, truly… or why they attack bus drivers that are serving them 24 hours a day,” Hatem said. “Believe me, we see the public more than we see our families.”