Wednesday, October 26, 2022, 14:59 On Sunday, October 23, the Lod District Court rejected a petition filed by Nasser Naji Abu-Hamid’s attorney. In the petition, the terrorist’s attorney leveled criticism at the Prison Service parole board for their decision earlier this month to reject the request by the terrorist for parole on humanitarian grounds due to his terminal illness. In accordance with the Counter-terrorism Law, the Lod District Court ruled that the parole board does not have the authority to judge requests for conditional release by a terrorist who murdered citizens in a terror attack, even on humanitarian grounds.
The court also ruled that even if the parole board had the authority, there were no grounds for releasing the terrorist. The central consideration is the great harm that the release would cause to the bereaved families. This decision can prevent hearings from even being held on requests of this type.
Abu-Hamid was convicted of several counts of murder and attempted murder, all of them in acts of terror. Among the murdered are Binyamin and Talia Kahane, Hy”d, who were shot near Ofra in 2000 while some of their children were with them in their van, and Gadi Rejwan, Hy”d, who was murdered in 2002 in the factory that he managed in the Atarot Industrial Zone. At the sentencing, the court called the terrorist the “killing machine” and sentenced him to seven life terms plus 50 years’ imprisonment.
Honenu Attorney Ophir Steiner, who is representing the Kahane and Rejwan families, reacted to the court decision: “This is an important ruling that protects bereaved families. The very presence of the victims’ families at the hearings has caused them a huge mental upheaval that robbed them of their sleep and took them back to the dark days of the attacks. They drew strength from the understanding that their sacrifice, touching an open wound in front of the judges, would be beneficial not only in this case but rather would prevent other bereaved families from undergoing a similar upheaval.”
The upheaval that the families underwent was indeed great. Prior to the previous hearing, the families of the victims submitted a position paper with the assistance of Honenu Attorneys Ophir Steiner and Chayim Bleicher to the parole board demanding that the terrorist’s sentence not be reduced. Representatives of the families attached personal letters to the position paper describing their hardships and the pain that they felt when they heard about the hearing.
One of the Kahane children wrote, “We, six children aged two months to 14 years, were left orphaned, without our father and mother. This horrific trauma has been neither forgotten nor blotted out. In a world in which justice, truth, and ethics take precedence, there is no justification for going beyond the letter of the law for a terrorist. To this day, I carry with me the trauma, the loneliness, the deep pain, and the feeling of detachment.”
Another daughter added, “As a young girl, I always felt different because everyone had parents and I didn’t. I used to dream that Mom and Dad had come back to us. I was waiting for a miracle. Childhood experiences were lost in one moment of human maliciousness. The fears and anxiety that followed the trauma are a challenge. It’s as if my soul isn’t capable of handling anything more. It’s all too much for me. And as a mother, the acuteness only increases. I constantly bear the consequences of the attack, incessantly. The thought that there could be any mercy for the despicable terrorist who destroyed my life angers and frustrates me to an indescribable extent. The injustice cries out! This is a knife to the heart, this time from the State of Israel. Do not say ‘our hands did not spill this blood’.”
Another family member described the effects of the attack: “Some of the family experienced the attack in an extreme and difficult manner. They were thrown into serious emotional problems, anxiety, and dysfunction. During all these years they have undergone very serious processes. They do not lead normative lives. The release of [Nasser Naji Abu-Hamid] will cause them deep upheaval and shock.”