Gil Gabai, Meir’s wife; Photo credit: Honenu
Sunday, February 18, 2024, 11:07 In early February, Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher wrote a letter to the State Attorney’s office asking them to appeal the sentence handed down to the terrorist, who is now 19 years of age, who stabbed Meir Gabai in Lod during Operation Guardian of the Walls. In June 2023, the Lod District Court convicted the terrorist of aggravated assault and an act of terror. The court sentenced him in January 2024 to only five and a half years’ imprisonment. The lenient sentence was handed down despite the terrorist’s previous involvement in several extremely violent incidents for which he was convicted previously, and despite his failure to express complete remorse for his acts.
The State Attorney’s office responded to Attorney Bleicher by letter that they would not appeal the sentence: “We weighed the severity of the incident, and also the injury and the trauma caused to the victim, of which there is no dispute, against the fact that the defendant was a minor [at the time of the attack]. After weighing the facts, we reasoned that at the end of the day, a balanced penalty had been imposed, and therefore there are no grounds to appeal the sentence.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher: “The State Attorney’s office adhered to previous rulings in similar cases, justifying their lenient sentence due to the young age of the terrorist. However, prejudiced reasoning that does not reflect reality should be disregarded. The circumstances of the attack indicate a despicable terrorist who carried out a vicious attack with severe consequences. Such an act by a terrorist should not result in only a five-and-a-half-year prison term. We call on the Justice Minister to intervene and require the most senior echelons to reexamine policy. The citizens of Israel are entitled to courts that protect their lives and their security.”
In May 2021, as Gabai returned home from prayers in the synagogue, a group of Arabs attacked him with rocks as they called out, “Allah akbar.” One of the Arabs stabbed and wounded Gabai with a pocketknife as his wife watched the attack from her window.