JERUSALEM (VINnews) — An Israeli bus driver was ordered held in custody Wednesday as police investigate the deadly incident that killed 14-year-old Yosef Eizental during an ultra-Orthodox protest in Jerusalem, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged a thorough probe into what he called a national tragedy.
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Police asked a Jerusalem court to extend the driver’s detention by 15 days as investigators pursue charges including reckless driving and causing death by negligence. Authorities said the driver is suspected of entering an intersection at a speed not suited to road conditions and failing to respond appropriately to the volatile situation on the street.
Investigators stressed there is no indication of terrorism, though all possibilities are being examined.
What police say happened
According to preliminary findings, the incident occurred outside the authorized protest zone, at an intersection that remained open to traffic. Police said a group of demonstrators blocked the bus and confronted the driver, who reported being attacked and called the police emergency line minutes before the crash.
Authorities say the driver then attempted to move through the crowd. During the chaos, Eizental climbed onto the front of the bus. Investigators believe the driver did not realize the boy was being dragged as the vehicle continued forward at speed. The bus later stopped several blocks away, where emergency crews pulled the teenager from beneath the vehicle and pronounced him dead.
Several other people were injured and taken to hospitals with varying degrees of severity.
Police said the driver told investigators: “They climbed onto my bus and I tried to escape.”
Netanyahu: ‘This will be thoroughly investigated’
Netanyahu expressed condolences to the family and vowed a full accounting.
“I feel deep pain over the tragic death of the dear yeshiva student Yosef Eizental,” the prime minister said in a statement. “The circumstances of this disaster will be thoroughly investigated so that we can draw every necessary conclusion. I call on everyone to prevent an escalation of tensions so that, God forbid, we do not suffer further tragedies.”
Criminal investigation underway
Police said the case is being handled as a criminal investigation, not a terror incident. Officers are examining video footage, witness statements and the sequence of events that led from the confrontation to the fatal collision.
Authorities said the street where the crash occurred had not been closed for the protest and that demonstrators moved into traffic lanes, creating what police described as an immediate danger to themselves and to drivers.
The tragedy has intensified scrutiny of safety at mass demonstrations and renewed the national debate over responsibility when protests spill into open roadways.
Police said the investigation is ongoing and additional charges could be considered as more evidence is reviewed.
This maniac driver should sit in jail for a very long time. His own crime does not in anyway detract however from the responsibility that must be attributed to the hundreds of bochurim that wound him up and caused him distress. Whether you want to attribute 70% blame on the driver and 30% to the mob that incited him, or 60-40 or 50-50, at the end of the day, those bochurim have blood on their hands. If they weren’t there at that time, there would be no levaya today.
If he was really a Yeshiva student, then he should have stayed in Yeshiva, not jump on a moving bus. You have time to attend rallies and protests, you have time to serve in the army.
It is truly sad this young man died over politics. Shame on his Rebbeim for encouraging this behavior, they are as much to blame as the driver
It a real tzadik
I understand: that bus driver is an Yishmaeili ,
Too bad
another innocent victim of reckless Zionists.
this boy died fighting the Zionists shmad to eradicate Torah learning