Thursday, May 11, 2023, 12:01 Today (Thursday), the Jerusalem Magistrates Court sentenced four guests who attended the “Wedding of Hate” to between three and five months of community service (commuted prison sentence). Two additional guests were sentenced to 200 and 220 hours of public service. In March, another four minors who attended the wedding were convicted of incitement to terror and violence by the Jerusalem District Court after the Magistrates Court acquitted them. The acquittal of a fifth minor was upheld by the District Court. In April, the Jerusalem Magistrates Court sentenced the groom to four months of community service (commuted prison sentence), and a guest to 180 hours of public service.
Honenu Attorney Moshe Poleski, who represented the defendants, leveled sharp criticism at the court for its decision: “We will examine the verdict and the sentences, and we intend to appeal them. The verdict does not correspond to the circumstances of the incident. The sentencing does not correspond to the acts of the defendants, either. Although the court is supposed to be impartial, it is being influenced by public sentiment. We regret this situation in which individuals belonging to a specific sector cannot expect to be granted a fair trial.”
At the December 2015 wedding, participants were seen waving weapons and photographs of the infant who died in the July 2015 arson incident in Kfar Duma. The wedding became known as the “Wedding of Hate”. See here and here for two instances of central evidence lost by the police in the “Wedding of Hate” case, and here for a false detention in that case, for which the detainee was compensated.