Sunday, April 19, 2020, 9:13 Wafa Na’alwa, the mother of Ashraf Na’alwa, the terrorist who murdered Kim Levengrond-Yehezkel, Hy”d, and Ziv Hajbi, Hy”d, in the Barkan Industrial Park on October 7, 2018, was released from prison on Thursday, April 16. She was greeted by hundreds of supporters who organized a caravan of cars and waved Palestinian flags in celebration of her release. Palestinian Police cars participated in the caravan and armed Palestinian Policemen are visible in the video clip of the event.
Released mother of Barkan terrorist received by flag-waving supporters; Video credit: Arab social media
The Shomron Military Court convicted Wafa of failure to prevent the attack and handed down an 18-month prison sentence, which she served. She had known of her son’s intent, had seen him training with a weapon, and yet did not act according to law to prevent the planned attack. Wafa was also obligated to pay 40,000 NIS in compensation to the victims’ families. Honenu Attorney verified that she would not be released prior to payment of the compensation, and it was paid. See here for details of the appeal on the leniency of her sentence.
Iris Hajbi, the mother of Ziv Hajbi, Hy”d, reacted to the release: “I am very sad and angry that the judges in the Military Court are so lenient with their judgment. They want to finish these trials quickly and be rid of all guilt about them. There is no justice in this world. The mother was a full partner in the murder. The only thing she didn’t do was hold the gun and shoot. They educate to hate Jews and that brought her son, the despicable terrorist, to murder Ziv and Kim only because they were Jews. She should have been imprisoned for many years to pay for her hate and that of all her family. She was aware of every step that he took, knew that he wanted to be a shahid, and despite that she did not attempt to prevent the despicable murder.
“When the guilty parties and their accomplices receive short sentences they don’t learn their lesson, and there is no deterrence from additional attacks. There is no justice in this world. Ziv always searched for justice and he didn’t receive it.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher called for more stringent penalties that will deter the families of terrorists: “The parents of the [Barkan] terrorist will be released to their homes and will continue their lives in the new house that the terror organizations built for them out of murderous pride in their son, the shahid, while the victims’ families are left without their children, without their father or their mother or their spouse.
“We, the citizens of Israel, are left with the constant threat of insatiable Arab terror. The time has come for new rules in the war on terror: completely deterring-terror supporting families by demolishing their houses, seizure of their land by the State of Israel, and expelling them from the area. If it turns out that the family had information about the intention of a family member to harm the security of Israel, then the family must be imprisoned for many years. A year and a half is not enough. The steps taken were insufficient to prevent the next attack,” added Bleicher.