Family of Car Ramming Victim ‘Horrified’ Over Lesser Charges for Terrorist

Prosecutors announced Tuesday night that they would be charging the terrorist who killed Avraham Hasno, Hy”d, in October 2015, with manslaughter, not murder. Speaking to Channel Two, members of the Hasno family called the decision “unacceptable.”

The terrorist is a resident of the village of Dahariya, near Yattir in the south Chevron Hills. Hasno, 54, of Kiryat Arba, was killed on October 20th, as he was returning home from Otniel, where he was in charge of the yeshiva high school and kitchen. Palestinians blocked the highway with burning tires and pelted his car with stones, causing him to stop on the side of the road and exit his vehicle. He was then hit by the truck and fatally wounded. MDA paramedics attempted to resuscitate Hasno in preparation for evacuation by helicopter, but he died at the scene.

The Defense Ministry initially refused to recognize Hasno as a terror victim, preferring to call the incident a traffic mishap. After pressure, that decision was revoked and Hasno was added to the list of terror victims – implying that the individual who carried out the attack is a terrorist. Speaking to Channel Two, Meidan Hasno, a son of the slain driver, said that the family had fought to get their father recognized as a terror victim, and would fight to get their father’s killer tried for murder

“We are shocked. This is unacceptable. This individual came specifically to murder our father, and there is plenty of evidence showing this. Taxis and trucks blocked our father’s vehicle, and he had no choice but to leave his vehicle and try to escape on foot – when the Arab driver targeted him and ran him down,” said the younger Hasno.

Army prosecutors did not say why they were filing lesser charges. Meidan Hasno said that when he asked, he was told that it was the decision of the prosecutor, and that “he did not have to tell us why, nor would he.” According to Palestinian Authority police, the driver turned himself in to them after he killed the elder Hasno. The driver claimed it was an accident and was subsequently released. IDF soldiers picked him up afterward.