Six Jewish teens charged in beating of Israeli Arab

Six Jewish teens were charged with causing serious bodily harm in an attack on an Arab resident of eastern Jerusalem.

The teens appeared Wednesday in Jerusalem District Juvenile Court. Four of them admitted to attacking Ibrahim Abu Taha, 28, last weekend in Jerusalem, Haaretz reported, citing the charge sheet. Two other teens were charged with theft for allegedly stealing Taha's wallet.

Taha allegedly was attacked outside the apartment of a Jewish female co-worker from a Jerusalem hotel. He suffered a broken ankle in the attack.

The arrested teens, three of whom are 16 years old, said they attacked Taha because they thought he was “taking advantage” of a Jewish woman. A male Jewish co-worker was not attacked. The Arab man and his two Jewish co-workers had gone out after work to a bar in Jerusalem's Talpiot neighborhood. The female reportedly was intoxicated and being escorted home by her co-workers.

The teens reportedly asked Taha if he was Arab before they beat him.

The incident comes less than a month after a group of Jewish teens allegedly beat a 17-year-old Israeli Arab in Jerusalem and left him in critical condition. Israeli police described the assault as a lynching. Police arrested five in the attack, including a 13-year-old.

Earlier in August, Jewish teens were indicted for allegedly firebombing a Palestinian taxi near Gush Etzion, wounding six people, including two children.