Attorney General Aharon Barak will initiate manslaughter charges against the Mayor and municipal council members of Bnei Brak on grounds of non-criminal negligence that resulted in a traffic fatality there last July. Herzl Attiyah, 22, was killed when a car in which he was a passenger collided with a chain that residents of the town stretched across a main read to black traffic on the Sabbath.
Barak’s decision triggered an outcry in the Orthodox establishment but also raised legal questions in secular circles. Some critics said the legal proceedings would re-ignite the bitter conflict between the ultra-Orthodox residents of Bnei Brak and their non-Orthodox neighbors that touched off riots in the town last summer. The decision is the first in Israel’s judicial history in which a Mayor and local council members will be hailed to court on grounds that they are collectively responsible for a traffic accident.
Mayor Pinhas Ailon of Holon, a non-Orthodox township south of Tel Aviv, who heads the union of local authorities, observed that no one would want to stand for election to municipal office if they are liable to prosecution for accidents connected with local public works.
Except for the Orthodox quarters in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, north of Tel Aviv, is the only place in Israel where the Sabbath is strictly observed by virtually all residents. Of its 15 council members, II are members of the religious political factions. It was the town council that voted to place a physical barrier across Hashomer Street after non-Orthodox residents, also served by the road, protested against the enforced closing of the thoroughfare from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and on religious holidays.
JURIST’S MOVE RAISES QUESTIONS
One question raised was who would have to serve a prison term or whatever penalty is prescribed if the town officials are found guilty: would it be the Mayor who is the chief official, the full council or only those members who voted to erect the chain?
Barak contends that the road was blocked illegally because no permission was obtained from the Transport Ministry to close the road, and, in any event, a road sign would have sufficed. Bnei Brak Mayor Israel Gotlieb said he feared renewed public disorder if the case materializes. According to Gotlieb, a modus vivendi has been reached between the religious and secular elements and Bnei Brak has been quiet since the incidents last summer.
Meanwhile, a strong police presence was credited with averting a clash between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews in Bnei Brak Friday night. The Orthodox congregated to protest Barak’s decision. Non-Orthodox groups turned up to stage a counter-demonstration in support of the Attorney General. Insults were exchanged but all dispersed quietly under the watchful eyes of police.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
