Two Palestinian Authority Arabs have been indicted for beating unconscious a 70-year-old Israeli cab driver and stealing his vehicle after throwing him out of the taxi near Ramallah. The attack took place at night in January but was kept under wraps during the investigation until police released a gag order on Wednesday.
Yaakov Levi had picked up three Arab passengers in Tel Aviv area after believing their story that they were workers who lived in Abu Ghosh, near Jerusalem. When Levi was getting close to the area, one of the Arabs asked him to stop by the side of the road so he could relieve himself. He then yanked open up Levi’s door and punched in the face while his accomplices beat him and tied a rope around his neck.
Levi told Channel 2 television the attackers called him a “stinking Jew’ and he was sure they were going to murder him. He later fainted, and the Arabs drove with him to northern Jerusalem, on the way to Ramallah, and then threw him out of the taxi. He regained consciousness and sought out PA police, who brought him to Israeli officials. The elderly man was treated in the hospital for moderate to serious wounds.