Israeli-American Roy Gross, 28, sustained a compound leg fracture after an assailant, allegedly motivated by his Israeli heritage, attempted to run him and his friends over in Laguna Beach, California.
According to a police report cited by Hebrew News, Gross and his friends were waiting for a taxi outside a club around 2:00 a.m. when two men approached and asked about their national origin. After Gross identified himself as Israeli, one of the men, who claimed to be Palestinian and Iranian, began hurling verbal abuse.
The confrontation escalated when the suspects reportedly chased away the group’s taxi and then used a vehicle to ram at Gross and his friends three times. On the third attempt, Gross suffered a severe leg injury, and another friend was also struck.
Gross, a Huntington Beach resident and former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier now working as a music producer, stated from the hospital that he had tried to de-escalate the situation before the attack.
Police arrested one of the alleged assailants and initially detained one of Gross’s friends before releasing him. Authorities are investigating the incident as a potential hate crime.
The attack comes amid heightened tensions in the area. Last November, a 69-year-old Jewish man died after being pushed to the ground by a pro-Palestinian protester during a rally near Los Angeles. That assailant was later charged with involuntary manslaughter.
