Two men arrested over assault of Arab bus driver in the West Bank
Pair were detained shortly after incident in which they allegedly beat driver for Israeli company as he drove route in West Bank settlement of Modi’in Illit
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Police arrested two men on suspicion of assaulting an Arab bus driver for an Israeli transport company near the West Bank settlement of Modi’in Illit last week, law enforcement announced Tuesday.
Both suspects were arrested shortly after the incident and were released to house arrest under restrictive conditions on Monday.
Police said that on November 11, the two suspects broke into the bus and beat the driver as he was working a route. He was taken to a nearby hospital for his injuries.
According to Hebrew media reports, the public transport vehicle was from Kavim, an Israeli bus company that has routes in the central Gush Dan area of the country, and also some to West Bank settlements.
Part of the attack was caught on film by a bystander and posted to social media, police said. Officers were able to identify the two attackers and put out an arrest warrant for the pair, who were then detained. At the weekend, a court extended their remand until Monday, when they were released to house arrest.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing, police noted. Footage from the assault showed two men near the front of the bus taking turns punching the driver, as he attempted to defend himself while still in the driver’s seat.
The attack took place amid a sharp uptick in brutal assaults on bus drivers by passengers during the course of their work, with many of the assailants targeting Arabs in particular.
Earlier this month, there were 12 attacks on Arab bus drivers in Jerusalem during the space of a week.
Transit officials and lawmakers have been pressing for increased security on buses for years, and the Transportation Ministry issued a tender earlier this week for the establishment of a new security unit aimed at providing a rapid response to violence on buses.
The pilot program for the unit will see security guards deployed on motorcycles throughout the streets of seven different cities: Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba, Beit Shemesh, Modi’in Illit, Beitar Illit and Rahat.
Israel is already experiencing a shortage of bus drivers, and the uptick in violence against transit workers stands to only worsen the deficit. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has experienced a consistent shortage of some 5,000 bus drivers, according to Hebrew outlets.
According to a report from the Ynet outlet, there are 60,000 licensed bus drivers who have chosen a different career, with bus drivers’ unions blaming the shortage on violence, meager and stagnant wages, and long work hours.
The Times of Israel Community.