Bus driver Fakhri Khatib, who fatally struck 14-year-old Yosef Eisental during a riot in Jerusalem, was brought Thursday morning to a detention hearing at the Jerusalem District Court wearing the uniform of a security prisoner.
When his attorney, Jad Kadmani, asked Prison Service officials why Khatib had been dressed that way, despite police statements that the incident was not a terror attack, one prison officer replied: “That is the only jacket available."
Footage from the incident
(Video: Yehuda Aharoni)
The hearing concerns an appeal against a 9-day extension of Khatib’s detention. Police on Wednesday removed the charge of aggravated murder that had initially been attributed to him.
Judge Sharon Larry-Bavli told the defense that “this is not a political investigation” and said that although the driver was surrounded by an angry crowd that counted down before lunging at him, his decision to accelerate forward in an attempt to escape was “not the right decision.”
Addressing the defense, she added, “How can you say that he did not see them? Didn't he see them? Twenty children were standing in front of him."
Footage of the incident, lasting about 4 minutes and 30 seconds, shows the driver attempting to reverse while a crowd surrounds the bus, blocks the road, curses and sets trash bins on fire, with no police officers visible at the scene.
According to the driver, he felt distress and feared for his life, leading him to drive forward once the countdown ended. Police confirmed that he had earlier called the police emergency 100 hotline to report the situation, but said forces deployed to a nearby mass protest were unable to reach the scene in time.