Dozens of fans of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team attacked two Arab bus drivers in Jerusalem on Thursday night, following a live broadcast of the team’s loss in the State Cup finals.

In videos shared on social media, fans can be seen punching a driver and throwing objects in his direction. Footage also shows the driver throwing the bus’s small trash can at the assailants in self-defense. Another clip shows another driver pushing fans against the door of a bus, as they hit him.

As of Friday afternoon, no one has been arrested in connection with the incident, and no suspects have been announced by police.

One of the bus drivers, Ahmad Karhin, told the Haaretz newspaper that he was driving the 77 line, which ends at Malha Mall, near the team’s home, Teddy Stadium, where the game was being broadcast.

“Many tens of young Beitar Jerusalem fans arrived, I recognized them from the clothes and scarves,” he recalled.

“They identified that I was Arab after they spoke with me, and they started, out of nowhere, to yell at me ‘Death to Arabs,’ to curse and to attack me. The whole time, more and more of them were joining,” he said.

Karhin told Haaretz that another Arab bus driver, Mohammad Saj, arrived at the scene and helped him, but that the second driver was also attacked.

“No one was helping me apart from that driver,” Karhin recalled.

“The police arrived 20 minutes later, maybe half an hour, and they rescued me from there and brought me to Magen David Adom, who transferred me to a hospital. I was scared for my life, I was afraid I wouldn’t get out of there alive,” he said.

He added: “This isn’t the first time drivers have been attacked, but it was the most brutal incident.”

Saj, a resident of East Jerusalem, told the Ynet news site: “I saw Karhin attacked by dozens of Beitar Jerusalem fans. I stopped and got off [my bus] and helped him, and I was also attacked.

“They cursed at me, ‘Arabs are sons of whores, dogs, we’ll burn you, get out of here,’ and other racist statements,” he recalled.

Israel Police said in a statement: “We look with severity upon acts of barbarism and violence in the public square, in particular when they are committed against public servants and bus drivers.”

“Immediately upon receiving notice, officers arrived at the scene, scanned for suspects and opened an investigation. We will continue to operate with determination and using any means at our disposal to locate the suspects and circumstances of the incident,” the statement concluded.

The two drivers who were attacked, both East Jerusalem residents, work for the Superbus company.

In a statement on Friday, Superbus said the incidents “join many other violent incidents that have occurred on a daily basis against bus drivers in Jerusalem.

“In videos from the violent incidents last night, the criminals are clearly visible and we expect and call on all law enforcement bodies, and the management of Beitar Jerusalem, to bring the law-breakers to justice immediately,” the company said.

The Beitar team and their fans, particularly the hardcore group of ultras known as “La Familia,” have a long reputation of racism, routinely chanting “death to Arabs” at games and refusing to integrate Arab or Muslim players into the team.

The Koach LaOvdim labor union said it was “weighing taking steps as an organization,” declaring in a statement that it “will not agree to public transit workers being punching bags for passengers.”

Iti Cohen, who heads the transit employees’ branch of Koach LaOvdim, warned, “Every day brings us closer to the murder of a driver or fare inspector.”

“The 77 is prone to disaster at the end of every Beitar game. We’ve warned the police and the administration about this more than once, and the threat only gets worse,” Cohen said, and demanded that the Transportation Ministry provide more security for transit employees.

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion condemned the attack on the bus drivers — the first time he has done so for an incident of this type, according to the Kan public broadcaster.

“The violence against the bus drivers crosses a red line,” Lion said in a statement. “We cannot accept a reality in which hard-working, dedicated workers fear for their lives while doing their job.

“Harming someone based on their origin or their sex is a severe, intolerable thing and goes against our Jewish values,” he added.

The mayor called on “the police and Transportation Ministry to work with determination to eradicate this phenomenon and watch over the security of drivers and passengers alike.”

As of Friday morning, Transportation Minister Miri Regev was yet to comment on the incident, drawing her own condemnation from MK Na’ama Lazimi, of the left-wing Democrats party.

“More than 12 hours have passed since a group of rioters violently and harshly attacked a bus driver after the Trophy final, and the transportation minister, who is apparently busy searching for her next flight — still has not said a word about the attack on the driver, and Ben Gvir’s police haven’t arrested anyone,” she wrote on X, referring to the far-right national security minister.