A Palestinian who violently attacked a combatant, wounded him and tried to grab his weapon in what was defined in real time as an attack reached a particularly lenient plea bargain with the military prosecution, according to which he will serve only 40 months in prison and return home within a year and a half from today.
The fighter, who is accompanied by Honenu, opposed the arrangement, which does not define the incident as a terrorist attack but rather as a "robbery," but despite this, the prosecution presented the arrangement to the court and seeks to advance it.
The incident took place in May 2021, when Yossi Amar, a Kfir Brigade soldier, was standing at a bus stop near the Nabi Musa base. The terrorist, Omar al-Khatib, an illegal Palestinian traveling in an Israeli vehicle, recognized Omar, got out of his car, jumped on him and pepper-sprayed him. He then tried to grab his weapon.
Amar refused to surrender, fighting for his life for long minutes that seemed like an eternity. During a hearing at the military court, he told the judges: "I want you to understand my feeling, a feeling that you're going to die for ten whole minutes, you don't see anything in the process, you're afraid to die and you're struggling and it's not over, it's a battle of life and death... I felt like I was going to die, it was an attempt at murder."
Nabi Musa, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The fighter repelled Al-Khatib despite the fact that his eyesight was severely damaged, and finally Al-Khatib tried to flee, with Omar following him and knocking him down again. A Border Police officer who was in the area saw the struggle and helped Omar neutralize the Palestinian. In real time, it should be noted, the incident was defined as a terrorist attack for all intents and purposes, which was not reflected in the indictment.
This week, to the chagrin of the soldier and his lawyer, Haim Bleicher on behalf of Honenu, the military prosecution filed an amended indictment as part of a plea bargain with Al-Khatib. The indictment did not say that it was an attack or attempted murder, but rather an attempted robbery and driving an Israeli vehicle. The proposed penalty is 40 months in prison, more than half of which have already been served. In addition, it was proposed to pay the soldier, who was defined as disabled by the IDF following the violent incident and suffers damage and injuries to this day, a compensation payment of NIS 8,000.
In practice, this means that if the plea bargain is accepted, Alkhatib will be released within a year and a half. Honenu is demanding that the court not accept the plea bargain.
"The soldier overcame him by a miracle"
"It is incomprehensible that a terrorist who tried to snatch a weapon from a soldier, sprayed gas on him, punched him many times, and only because of the soldier's courage after a long struggle of life and death, the soldier miraculously managed to overcome him - will win such a lenient arrangement," says Attorney Bleicher. "One can imagine what would have happened had the terrorist succeeded in his plot and taken an armed M-16 weapon into his hands. It is inconceivable that in two and a half years the terrorist will be set free and given a second chance. You don't have to have a doctorate to understand the significance of a violent hijacking of weapons in Judea and Samaria from a soldier."
Military ambulance near Nabi Musa base, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
"No verdict has yet been handed down, and the court has the responsibility to examine whether the plea bargain meets reasonable standards. We demand that the court do its duty, cancel the plea bargain and sentence the terrorist to as many years in prison as possible," Bleicher added.
An IDF spokesperson said in response: "The defendant was convicted, according to his confession, of attempting to steal weapons using force and other offenses, after attacking a soldier and attempting to grab his weapon. A plea bargain, reached after lengthy mediation, was presented to the military court before a military court judge. As part of the plea bargain, the parties petitioned that the defendant be sentenced to 40 months in prison to serve and probation. In addition, the military prosecution petitioned for financial compensation of the victim of the offense. Before the plea bargain was brought to the military court for approval, the military prosecution updated the victim and his counsel and accepted his position on the settlement. At the hearing, the victim of the offense declared to the military court that he objected to the actual prison sentence agreed upon in the plea bargain. The verdict, in which the military court will decide whether to adopt the arrangement, will be given later."
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