A police officer was stabbed by a protester in Tel Aviv during a protest on Wednesday against a decision by the prosecution not to charge the woman who ran over and killed four-year-old Rafael Adana in May. The police officer was transferred to the hospital for treatment in moderate condition and the suspect escaped from the scene.
Adana was hit by a driver while walking with his grandfather in Netanya in May. The prosecution decided earlier this week not to charge the driver with homicide, stating that traffic examiners found that the accident was "unavoidable."
"The examiners determined in accordance with the testimony of the grandfather (of the minor) that the child was on the road less than half a second before the suspect hit him with her car," said the prosecution, adding that the accident did not take place at a crosswalk and the driver wasn't violating the speed limit.
The protest on Wednesday is the latest in a series of protests this week in response to the prosecution's decision. The protesters say that the authorities are not issuing harsh enough charges against the driver who hit Adana, and that the fact Adana is Ethiopian is leading prosecutor's and police to treat the case lightly.
Protesters carried signs reading "without justice there will not be quiet," "open the cameras," and "we all have the same color blood." After protesting at the intersection in front of the Azrieli towers, protesters went down to the Ayalon highway and blocked it.
Police said they were working to remove the protesters from the highway, adding that protesters had "violently broken through" police barriers. "Israel Police will allow the freedom of protest legally, but we will not allow injury to police officers and will act with zero tolerance towards any manifestations of violence," said police.
After the stabbing, police began using stun grenades and water cannons against protesters. Ten protesters were arrested and four police officers were injured in total during the protest.
Family given permission to see surveillance footage from the area of the accident
Earlier on Wednesday, Adana's family was given permission by the prosecution to see footage from the area of the accident, although the cameras did not capture the accident itself, according to Walla. The Adana family met with the commander of the police's Central District, Avi Biton, on Wednesday.
"We demand that they come to investigate the truth, we demand a 'Rafael Law' which will have a significant increase in the punishment against drivers who hit and run, neglect, and escape responsibility. We request an indictment under aggravating circumstances," said Rafael's father, Simcha, according to Walla.
"There is a flagship case here in which we need to convey a message to every driver in the State of Israel how not to behave and what is criminal conduct," added the father. "The behavior of the offending driver from the moment the incident happened until this moment indicates that she is a human being and in general an unreasonable driver at best and in her case simply a criminal. We will not let up until a serious indictment is filed under aggravating circumstances of neglect. The criminal must be brought to justice - hit-and-run criminals must be brought to justice."
Earlier, Rafael's parents stated "As if it wasn't enough that we lost one child, we are dealing with another child, 6 years old, who lives the trauma every day. And as if that weren't enough! We are faced with a mask of rumors regarding the incident instead of them sitting with us and telling us what came up in the investigation and what happened."
"As if that wasn't enough, we are dealing with a driver who hit, neglected and ran away and the system does not hold her to account for them to see and see. As if that was not enough, until this moment the driver has not come to express regret for what she did and the way she is behaving after the incident is criminal, criminal, immoral and fundamentally broken."