A 18-year-old Arab man drove his car at 107 miles per hour directly into a car carrying the Rimel family that was stopped at a red light, killing a mother and her three-week-old baby. The father and twelve-year-old son were seriously injured. Physicians were forced to amputate the son’s leg and his condition remains life-threatening. Four other people were injured in the incident.
The killer denied he was motivated by nationalist intentions. He told police investigators he decided to take a new car he had just bought out for a “test spin,” the indictment said. According to the Palestinian killer, he decided “to check how the car responds to high-speed situations.”
The Palestinian driver was arrested in the hospital after the incident but two days later, a Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court judge ordered his release. The court rejected the police’s request to extend his remand, saying the matter should have been brought before the traffic court, even though it was Friday and the traffic court is not open on weekends. The Arab man remained in the intensive care unit of the hospital.
The killer was indicted on Wednesday on charges of reckless driving, unintentional manslaughter, and speeding. Under Israeli law, manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison. Negligent killing or vehicular killing carries a maximum sentence of three years.
The Arab is under house arrest until the judicial process is complete.
It should be noted that until 2009, the road was closed to Arabs that did not have Israeli citizenship, like the killer of the Rimels. B’tselem, a self-proclaimed left-wing “humanitarian” organization, succeeded in bringing a lawsuit that allowed Arabs unrestricted and unchecked access to Route 443. B’Tselem continues to bring lawsuits that will allow Arabs similar access to all roads in Israel.