"If it happens again, it will be different," according to a quote from the poem "Confession" by the poet Alexander Penn, Judge Ron Sulkin summed up the verdict of a man who for years subjected his partner to a series of threats, violence and taking over her life. Judge Sulkin also noted that he hoped that the complainant's case would have a different, better ending to the poem.
The indictment in this case relates to a series of humiliations, humiliation, physical, verbal, emotional and economic violence against the complainant – who had a relationship with the defendant for 11 years. The relationship began when she was still a soldier, when the defendant, at the time, was older than her, in a relationship and father of children, and during the relationship with her he even married his partner, had more children and had more marital relationships, of one intensity or another, with other women.
A short period of several months, after the acquaintance between the defendant and the complainant, "took over" her completely, completely isolating her from all her supportive environment (family and friends). In addition, he caused her to shut down all her social media accounts, took control of her sources of income and in fact enforced a kind of "supervision regime" in which she was forced to report to him her every move and action and required permission from him.
During this period, the complainant was moved between different places of residence, usually living in substandard conditions, without basic equipment, without enough food for her and her children (who were born later), without communication and even without electricity, when the electricity was paid in advance by the defendant and when it ran out, the complainant was literally in darkness, without light, without a refrigerator, without the possibility of cooking, without cooling or heating.
Attacked his partner (illustration), Photo: GettyImages
On one occasion, her family managed to locate her and in a "rescue operation" fly abroad, but after the defendant managed to contact her and "swore" to her that he would no longer resort to violence, she returned to him against the position of her family.
In addition, the defendant used to attack the complainant for trivial things, very serious assaults, and inter alia – in light of her refraining from "reporting" him about the presence of a man – a friend of her little brother – at her parents' house while she was there, drove her to a grove in the city of Dimona where he beat her all over her body and even ordered her to lick the tire of the car so that the baby she was carrying in her womb would die of germs.
In another case, he attacked her all over her body and even tried to strangle her with a robe belt for daring to go down to a neighbor in the building. All this, while the defendant berates the complainant with words that the paper does not tolerate and threatens her all along.
The defendant pleaded guilty and therefore evidence was heard, with both the complainant and the defendant testifying, each, over several sessions. Many other witnesses were also heard, including members of the complainant's family, social workers who treated her, police investigators, a child investigator, and even members of the accused's family.
At the end of the hearing of the evidence, the court decided to fully trust the version of the complainant, who testified to the judge's words with great courage, while posing in front of her a picture of her small children – in order to draw courage for a better future for them. The court rejected the testimony of the defendant and the testimony of alibi witnesses brought on his behalf.
The court ruled that the complainant's behavior, including cases in which she expressed a desire to see the accused, must be examined in terms of the special situation in which she was subjected, isolated from her surroundings, dependent on the defendant in every aspect, accepted the complainant's explanations regarding this and convicted the defendant of all the facts and offenses in the indictment.
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