Attorney Haim Bleicher of Mhonenu has appealed to the prosecutor's office demanding that an investigation be reopened, in which an Arab bus driver left a mother at the bus stop - with her baby on the bus - and refused to stop his journey.
Although there were many witnesses to the incident, the police decided to close the case.
In the appeal, Attorney Bleicher describes the serious incident: "On 01.05.24, the appellant waited with her baby daughter, only 4 months old, for bus line 618 of the Tnufa company.
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""The appellant began folding the stroller to put it in the trunk and handed the baby to the woman who offered her help. The woman boarded the bus with the baby while the appellant finished placing the stroller in the trunk and approached to board through the front door. Suddenly, without prior warning, the suspect driver closed the door and began to drive forward.
""The complainant knocked on the bus door with enormous pressure, while the bus passengers shouted at the driver to stop the bus, as the 4-month-old baby was without a mother. The woman holding the baby approached the driver and demanded that he stop the bus for the complainant and, unfortunately, stop so that she could get off with the baby to return it to its mother.".
""The driver, with heartlessness and malice, continued driving despite the screams of the woman and the passengers.".
""The appellant - the mother of the baby who was left at the station - began to cry hysterically, while another woman called the police. The police managed to contact a company inspector who stopped the bus as it was leaving the city. A police car brought the appellant to the bus while it was being held up as it was leaving the city. When the police asked the driver why he had behaved this way, the driver became confused and claimed that he thought the woman with the baby was the baby's mother and was released to continue his journey.".
Bleicher emphasizes in the appeal that despite the seriousness of the incident and the many witnesses who were on the bus, the police chose to close the case: "The appellant's husband went to the police to file a complaint several weeks after the incident at the Merhav David station but was refused, initially due to congestion and the second time he was told by an investigator that it was not a suitable case for a complaint.
""The complainant decided not to give up and filed an online complaint, in which she detailed the details of the incident. Unfortunately and shamefully, this complaint was also closed on grounds that are not suitable for criminal proceedings.".
In the appeal, Bleicher details the offenses committed by the bus driver and demands that the investigation file be opened and that he be prosecuted: "This is a horrific and serious incident in which a driver, apparently for anti-Semitic or other motives, decides to abuse a mother and a 4-month-old baby, while fleeing to her mother with the baby in the bus. Kidnapping a 4-month-old baby from her terrified mother and driving away with malice despite the screams of the passengers and the pleas of the woman holding the baby, is a malicious and wicked offense and indicates the great danger of that driver, who may cause a disaster with many casualties when the time comes that suits his distorted opinion.".
""This is extremely serious criminal behavior, which is also grounds for the suspect driver to be detained until the end of the proceedings. The authorities' blindness in understanding the situation and leaving the suspect driver behind the wheel is a blatant failure. I would like to ask that the case be reopened, the suspect driver be arrested for questioning, and justice be served.".
Attorney Bleicher to Haredim 10: "In recent months, our office has received dozens of complaints about minority bus drivers. There are many complaints about buses suddenly stopping for no reason by minority drivers, when all the people standing around flee at the sound of the driver's laughter.
""There have even been cases of people whose limbs were broken as a result of such incidents. Cases of drivers with empty buses who intentionally do not stop at stops due to protests from passengers on the bus, and other incidents of various types of abuse.".
""Unfortunately, we are unable to handle all incidents, especially when it is not possible to prove the malicious intentions of those drivers. On the other hand, for any terrorist criminal incident that can be proven, we act in all ways that will fulfill the law.".
""This is an extremely serious malicious incident that leaves a deep scar on the souls of the victims. Bus drivers who abuse on nationalistic grounds are a ticking time bomb of terrorism. The writing on the wall and the mass attack that will be carried out by a terrorist bus driver, God forbid, is a matter of time if we do not wake up now. We call on the public to contact members of the Knesset and the Ministry of Transportation, to report this and demand a supervisory unit that will operate undercover to locate drivers who abuse on terrorist grounds and ensure their immediate removal from the wheel before it is too late.".
