Beit Shemesh man in his 20s indicted for punching bus driver amid verbal argument

A man suspected of attacking a bus driver last month was indicted earlier this week by police prosecutors, law enforcement announces.

The defendant, a resident of the city in his 20s, was detained on suspicion of hitting the driver repeatedly with his fists, then with his phone, following a brief verbal argument between the two.

Police, who received a report of the incident the morning of September 28, tracked down the suspect and detained him for questioning.

He was released to house arrest late last month, police say. He will stand trial in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court.

Labor advocates have warned that bus drivers are becoming increasingly frequent target for beatings while working their routes. Anti-Arab sentiments have underpinned many recent attacks, though the ethnicity of the bus driver in this instance is unclear.

This past July, bus driver Ahmad Shehadeh landed in the hospital after being assailed by three Jewish youth, who beat and choked him, breaking his nose, while he worked a route at 1 a.m.

In May, Jewish fans of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team returning home from a lost match assaulted two bus drivers while shouting “Death to Arabs.”

Police announce their prosecution unit has indicted a a man in his 20s, from Beit Shemesh, for attacking a bus driver late last month pic.twitter.com/352yZAA65Z

— charlie summers (@cbsu03) October 8, 2025