Teens remanded for robbery, attack on Holocaust survivor, 76

While relatives say they are ‘good kids,’ victim Reli Shemesh asks, ‘How do you raise children like that?’

The Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court on Thursday extended the remand of three youths suspected of assaulting an elderly woman and stealing her handbag.

The teenagers will remain in custody for five days, after security footage Wednesday captured their assault on the 76-year-old Holocaust survivor.

Reli Shemesh was injured when she fell on the road outside her home during the course of the attack in the central town of Kfar Saba.

According to police, the youths have admitted to the attack and expressed remorse for their actions.

A family member of one of the teens expressed regret for the incident, but maintained that the attack was out of character for the youths.

“They are good children and the incident surprised us, it is not like them and we are shocked by what has happened. We hoped that the woman would be here so that we could ask for her forgiveness,” they told the Ynet Hebrew-language news site.

Shemesh responded to the comments, telling Ynet that she was surprised that the family had defended the youths as being well-behaved.

“They say they are good children? I have children and grandchildren their age and I don’t think for a second that one of them would do something like this,” Shemesh said. “How do you raise children like that?”

Shemesh also expressed a desire to meet with her attackers, to try to make them understand what they did.

“I would very much like to see the youths who assaulted me, to look them in the eyes and ask them how they would react if it happened to their mother or their grandmother.”