Rafi Levengrond (L), Guy Yehezkel (R); Photo credit: Honenu
Friday, March 20, 2020, 12:08 On Thursday, March 19, the Shomron Military Court imposed an 18-month prison sentence, a suspended sentence, and a 3,000 NIS fine on Walid Suleiman Mahmoud Na’alwa, the father of the Barkan terrorist. In February, the Shomron Military Court ruled that Walid had known that his son possessed a weapon, but had not been aware that his son intended to carry out the October 2018 attack in which Kim Levengrond-Yehezkel, Hy”d, and Ziv Hajbi, Hy”d, were murdered. He was convicted only of failure to prevent possession of a weapon and was exonerated from the crime of failure to prevent the attack. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher is assisting the families with realizing their rights as victims of terror.
The court also ordered the release of the mother of the Barkan terrorist upon her completion of a prison sentence for failure to prevent a crime. (Update: She was released and greeted by a flag-waving reception on April 16.) The court determined that she had been aware of her son’s intent, knew that he possessed a weapon and intended to use it to injure Jews, and had not acted in a reasonable manner to prevent the murder. The mother’s sentence was reduced in an administrative release. The father is expected to be released in the coming days, also in an administrative release after a reduced sentence.
The families of the murder victims responded angrily to the verdict and the release of the mother of the terrorist from prison. Rafi Levengrond, Kim’s father, leveled sharped criticism at the court: “The court is ignoring the facts. They claim that there’s information that they aren’t presenting to the judge so that they won’t [reveal] intelligence agents. They carried out a death sentence for Kim. The judge is ignoring the fact that Attorney Meirav Houri, a terrorist herself, is representing the three defendants and thereby disrupting legal proceedings and distorting the truth. The court ruled that the [terrorist’s] mother isn’t telling the truth, also their attorney isn’t telling the truth, and she’s coordinating testimonies – who’s going to believe her? I demand an appeal. This has been a show, not a genuine trial, and therefore I demand that another judge rule in this laughable trial. I don’t intend to give up. Whoever murdered Kim will pay for it dearly.”
Iris Hajbi added: “I am really angry, furious, that they did not accept our appeal concerning the trial of the mother. In my opinion, she was a full participant in the murder and should have received several years in prison. There is no deterrence against attacks and nothing deterring the families of terrorists. The military court is not basing its rulings on justice, but rather showing concern for the rights of terrorists and their families.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is assisting the families as victims of terror: “Yesterday the parents of the despicable terrorist who murdered Kim Levengrond-Yehezkel, Hy”d, and Ziv Hajbi, Hy”d, in Barkan have started on their way home. The parents could have prevented the attack and were convicted, the mother of failure to prevent the attack and the father of failure to prevent his son from possessing a weapon. Unfortunately, even though their penalties are more stringent than what abettors to terror have been receiving until now, it is still insufficient.
“The parents of the terrorist will be released to their home, and will continue their lives in the new house built for them by terror organizations who take pride in the murderous acts of their son, the shahid. The families of the murder victims are bereft of their children, their father or their mother, their husband or their wife. We, the citizens of Israel, are left with the constant threat of insatiable Arab terror. The time has come for new rules of engagement in the war against terror. Complete deterrence includes penalizing the family of a terrorist, demolishing their house, confiscating their land, and removing them from the area of their residence. If it turns out that the family had been aware of their family member’s intent to violate Israel’s security, the entire family must be imprisoned for many years, not a year and a half. The steps which have already taken are insufficient to prevent the next attack.”