In the video: the extension of the detention of a 22-year-old suspected of rape and breaking into a house in Gedra (Photo: Israel Police)
The Yehuda Military Court sentenced two 19-year-old youths who were involved in the rape of a tourist from Poland three years ago near Bethlehem to 14 years in prison and six and a half years in prison and financial compensation.
The military prosecutor's office is considering appealing the sentence.
In February 2020, the tourist drove with her partner in their car towards the town of Beit Jala near Bethlehem.
At the same time, the defendants, who were then about 17 years old, together with two other people hitchhiked through the same place.
When they recognized the couple, they blocked their car and ordered them to stop, while one of them introduced himself as a Palestinian police officer.
When they were arrested, the four tied up the tourist's partner, who begged them to let them go, grabbed the woman and began to commit severe acts of sodomy and rape on her one after another.
All this, while they record some of the actions on camera and oblige the woman to look at the camera, while one of them holds a knife and another checks that her partner does not run away.
After that, they stole from the woman the jewelry she was wearing and the cash they had in their possession, punctured the wheels of their vehicle and fled the scene.
When the details of the incident became known to the Palestinian police - the two minors accused in the case were arrested and held in custody, but six months later they were released to their homes.
They were later arrested by the police and the IDF and remained in custody until the end of the proceedings.
Event scene, illustration (photo: official website, use according to Section 27 A of the Copyright Law)
At the end of the evidentiary hearings, during which the victim took the witness stand, the military court sentenced them to prison terms: 14 years in prison for one of them and the other accused six and a half years in prison and financial compensation.
"The actions of the accused were carried out with great cruelty and inhumanity," the sentence reads.
"One of the people involved even carried a cold weapon with him. During the incident, three of the attackers committed several acts of rape and sodomy on the victim, simultaneously and one after the other. The latter was helpless and was held by force by them, crying and begging for her life. At all times during the acts, no one Of the four attackers, he showed no shred of humanity, compassion or mercy towards her," it said.
The sentencing shows that the difference in the punishments of the two arises from the difference in their involvement in the incident.
"The first defendant was dominant throughout the entire incident, and was an active participant in all the sexual acts that were committed," it said.
However, it was noted that the second defendant did not sexually harm the woman himself, but only watched over her partner while the others committed the acts and therefore "was convicted as a co-perpetrator of the acts of rape by virtue of partnership laws."
The judges also stated in their decision that "the brutality of the attackers was also expressed towards the victim of the crime. After they tied him up and left him near the heinous acts committed in his company. They brought the victim of the crime closer so that he could see the acts up close. The evil continued even after they had reached their sexual satisfaction, so they took pictures You are the victim of the crime in humiliating positions."
In addition, the verdict states that since the incident, the victim testifies that she "suffers from blood pressure problems, breathing difficulties, lack of sleep and is unable to fall asleep without medication. She is afraid to leave the house alone in the evening and suffers from constant restlessness and stress. She also stated that after the incident and due to her fears She underwent a hysterectomy."
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Attorney Ran Cohen Rockberger (photo: official website, Or Parboznik)
Judge Lt. Col. Mirav Hershkovitz Itzhaki wrote in her decision that "I found it appropriate to contact the legislator in the region, in order for him to consider applying the Law on the Protection of the Public from Committing Sexual Offenses, 2006, in the region, with the mandatory changes. More than once, they reach the doorstep of the courts In prison are sex offenders, those convicted of serious and less serious sex offenses, both against the residents of the area and towards Israelis and even tourists - as in our cases." The judge said that "it seems that the purposes underlying the law - are also true for the area.
Therefore, it is appropriate to examine the possibility of adopting, with the required changes, parts of the legislative arrangement applicable in Israel, into the region, for the purpose of protecting the public from sex offenders."
Lawyer Ran Cohen Rochbarger, lieutenant colonel in the reserves, former chief military defense attorney, explained in a conversation with Walla!
The amendment to the law was discussed by Judge Hershkovitz Itzhaki.
"This is a law in Israel that does not apply in Judea and Samaria, and no similar amendment has been enacted in the region. One of the important elements of this law is the obligation to conduct a punishment review in relation to sex offenders, which examines the dangerousness and background of that defendant before issuing a sentence, in order to adjust the punishment to the relevant circumstances," he explained .
He also said that "the amendment that was introduced in the military order in Yosh several years ago established an obligation to conduct a review before passing the sentence only regarding minor defendants, but there is no corresponding obligation regarding adult defendants."
According to him, "the disparity in the tools that a military court in Israel has, compared to its Israeli counterpart, in relation to adult Palestinian sex offenders, is extremely significant and may result in unjust results." However, Cohen Rockberger explained the difficulty in applying the law in the region: "It is difficult to imagine For an inspector to be able to enter areas A or B, entering these areas is dangerous and every entry by the security forces is accompanied by conflicts and friction.
It is difficult to expect that a police officer or an inspector will be able to enter the house of that Palestinian sex offender."
"At the same time, some of the arrangements in the law for the protection of the public against sex offenders can, in my view, be applied in Judea and Samaria even today, such as the requirement to conduct a sexual risk assessment review for the accused before sentencing him," he claimed.
"In order to conduct such a review, all that is required is a meeting or individual meetings with the accused - also as part of the detention in the military prison - and this important information regarding the degree of danger will give the judges a significant tool to hand down the punishment in the most correct and just way. Compatible with someone who is not dangerous," he explained.
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