Peleg Yerushalmi issued a furious condemnation on Thursday following the decision of a Jerusalem District Court judge to release the driver who killed Yosef Eisenthal, z’l, to house arrest.

The statement not only expressed outrage at the decision but also stated that the judge is completely unfamiliar with the technical details of the incident.

“Deep shock at Judge Tamar Bar-Asher’s scandalous decision to release the bus driver who killed Yosef Eisenthal, z’l,” the statement began.

“The judge’s discretion is fundamentally flawed and distorted. This is a case in which a 14-year-old boy met his death…this is complete contempt for human life and the abandonment of the blood of the entire Chareidi sector.”

Emphasizing that the judge was not well-versed with the case she ruled on, the statement provided an example: “By way of illustration, in her decision, the judge arbitrarily and in total detachment from reality ruled that the driver dragged Yosef Eisenthal, z’l, only a few dozen meters. This is an absolute lie!”

“The facts: the incident began at the corner of Yirmiyahu Street and Tuval Street, where the driver drove wildly into the crowd, striking Eisenthal, z’l, and several other youths, one of whom clung to the bus.

“At the Yirmiyahu–Sarei Yisrael junction, he sped left onto Shamgar Street (where the youth who hung was flung aside and b’chasdei Hashem, emerged unharmed), while dragging Eisenthal, z’l, who was trapped under the bus, all along Shamgar Street up to the Belz–Ohel Yehoshua traffic circle.

“There he continued speeding and turned right onto Ohel Yehoshua Street until he was aggressively stopped by the police near the intersection of Minchas Yitzchak and Kedushas Aharon Streets.

“One and a half kilometers of dragging, crushing, torment, the killing of a 14-year-old boy, injuries, and the endangerment of the lives of dozens of people along the entire trail of blood—and this crazed driver is released.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)