Settlers charged with terrorism, racially motivated assault for attack on Arab women
Four Arab-Israeli women and a two year old were severely assaulted after mistakenly entering illegal West Bank outpost Givat Ronen, left with broken bones and psychological trauma
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Two settlers from the illegal West Bank outpost of Givat Ronen were indicted on Tuesday on charges of terrorism, causing bodily harm, and other, racially motivated, offenses, over an incident in which they attacked four Arab-Israeli women and a two-year old child who mistakenly entered the community in August.
The charge-sheet filed to the Central-Lod District Court sets out how a gang of some 20 extremists in the notorious West Bank outpost bombarded the women’s vehicle with rocks; sprayed them with teargas; set their car on fire; screamed that they were going to kill them; caused them severe physical injuries and psychological trauma; and psychologically tortured them as well.
Two of the women were eventually rescued by an IDF unit which arrived at the scene of the attack, while two others who, together with the child, managed to flee, before being found by a separate unit.
The incident led to severe condemnation, with President Isaac Herzog speaking out strongly against the attack shortly after it occurred.
One of those charged was David Hasdai, a known settler extremist who was sanctioned by the US in February.
The incident began on August 9, when Lamis al-Jaer, a resident of the Bedouin town of Rahat in southern Israel, mistakenly drove into Givat Ronen in the northern West Bank with her 2-year-old daughter and three other relatives in the car.
According to the indictment, Hasdai was told by a resident of the nearby settlement of Har Bracha who was leaving Givat Ronen that a car with Arab women had just entered the outpost.
Hasdai then chased after al-Jaer’s car in his own vehicle, forced her to pull over, got out of his car, shouted at her not to move, and approached her “in a threatening manner.”
Feeling threatened, al-Jaer sought to turn her car around and leave but Hasdai gave chase on foot with other residents of the outpost joining in, shouting at them “Come, we want to kill you.” Some 20 youths, many of whom masked their faces, surrounded the vehicle and pelted it with rocks and stones, including Hasdai, shouting at the women that they would kill them, calling them “terrorists,” accusing them of trying to carry out a terror attack, and telling them, “There’s no reason to scream, no one will hear you here.”
The assailants then began smashing the windows and windscreens of the car, and the rocks began hitting the women, although one of them protected the two-year-old child with her body.
At this stage, a member of Givat Ronen’s civilian security squad arrived at the scene, pointed his cocked assault rifle at the women and demanded to know what was happening. When he realized they were not a security threat, he left the scene despite the assailants continuing to attack the car, although he told the head of security in Givat Ronen what was happening.
That individual then relayed to the chief of security in Har Bracha that there was no security incident, but that the women needed to be rescued from the scene.
In the meantime, the assailants, including Hasdai sprayed teargas into the women’s car and threatened to set the car on fire with them in it if they didn’t get out.
The women, who were barefoot, got out and fled the scene.
התקיפה האלימה בשומרון: כך נראו אתמול אחת הנשים והילדה בת ה-3 מרהט, שהותקפו ע"י מתנחלים לאחר שטעו בדרך ונכנסו למאחז גבעת רונן@carmeldangor pic.twitter.com/T9D94sLvlS
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 10, 2024
“Because of the threats… and the fear that they would be carried out, the women with the infant decided to leave the car and abandon it while indictee number one [Hasdai] and the others collectively shouted at them, cursed them, swore at them, and continued to throw stones at them,” the indictment alleges.
Hasdai and the others then set fire to the car after the women had fled with the baby.
Goelman then chased after them threatening to kill them unless they stopped. Two of the women stopped in fear, while two others with the infant continued running.
“At this point, while they were bruised, injured, covered in dust and soot from the smoke of their burning car, terrified and exhausted, indictee number two attacked them and began to abuse them, saying to them ‘You must be from Gaza,’ ‘They have relatives in Gaza,’ ‘You celebrated on October 7,’” the indictment alleges.
Goelman then ripped one of the women’s bags from her hands, took her phone, photographed her, then shouted at her to send the picture to all her WhatsApp groups. He then called her grandmother and told her he was going to kill her granddaughter, and then hung up the phone.
A reserve IDF unit finally appeared on the scene and eventually succeeded in getting Goelman to cease his assault on the women and return their belongings.
The two other women who had fled with the child were rescued by a separate IDF unit which found them “Frightened, trembling, crying, exhausted, dirty with soot and dust, bruised, injured, and with X in a foggy state of consciousness,” the indictment said, referring to one of the victims who was not named.
The two IDF units brought the women back together and they were given first aid at the scene by a medical team, and were then taken to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva for further treatment.
One of the women was unconscious and in a “critical and urgent life-threatening situation” due to an injury she sustained to her head during the attack.
According to the indictment, one woman sustained a fractured shoulder, a fractured finger, injuries to her back, injuries to her feet, severe psychological trauma, fear of leaving her home, and insomnia.
The second woman sustained injuries to her head, a fractured ankle, “massive bleeding from her head,” a loss of consciousness, severe pain in numerous parts of her body, dizziness, vomiting, insomnia, and grade three burns and other injuries to her feet.
A third woman sustained broken ribs, injuries and severe bruising to her hips and thigh, as well as other injuries to one of her knees, her feet, back and chest.
The fourth woman sustained injuries to her feet, burning in her eyes, and was left with psychological trauma.
The two-year-old child suffered some cuts, as well as burns to the soles of their feet.
Hasdai was indicted on one charge of bodily harm with aggravated intent as an act of terrorism; one count of racially motivated threats; one count of malicious damage to property motivated by racism; and arson.
Yaakov Goelman, another resident of Givat Ronen, was charged with one count of racially motivated deliberate damage to property; one count of racially motivated threats; and malicious damage to property motivated by racism.
