A one-legged taxi driver who rushed a badly wounded stab victim to a hospital early Wednesday was fired by his employer because the injured man, an Arab, left bloodstains on the upholstery.
That is the story told by Nissim Tevel, 47, an Israel Defense Force veteran who lost a leg in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Tevel, who just started driving a taxi for Eliyahu Siman-Tov, saw Abdul Hakim Daoud, 27, stabbed by two assailants at a construction site where Daoud was employed as night watchman.
He delivered the wounded man to Sheba Hospital at Tel Hashomer, possibly saving his life.
Tevel said he was sacked because the upholstery must be replaced and that his boss told him he would have to pay for the two working hours lost while the cab was being cleaned.
The Hashekem taxi cooperative immediately suspended Siman-Tov’s membership, pending a disciplinary court hearing.
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.
