First Sergeant Rubin (L) and Corporal Amichai (R); Photo credit: Free use
Tuesday, June 10, 2025, 8:24 In March 2025, the Military Court in Yehuda convicted Ali Dandis, the terrorist who murdered two IDF soldiers, First Sergeant David Rubin and Corporal Ahikam Amihai, Hy”d, at Nahal Telem, a wadi north-west of Kiryat Arba-Hevron, in 2007. Dandis was apprehended in a joint GSS, National Counter-Terrorism Unit, and IDF operation six months ago, after he left the custody of the Palestinian Authority.
The indictment filed against the terrorist states that he carried out the attack with two other terrorists, who are members of the Palestinian Authority security apparatus. One of the terrorists was later killed by Israeli security forces. The other two terrorists turned themselves in to the Palestinian Authority, and have been held ever since in “protective custody” in a Palestinian Authority Prison. However, while the terrorists were still in Palestinian Authority custody, they oversaw terrorist gangs and coordinated equipment and weapons supplies for them. Dandis also carried out a shooting attack in the Har Hevron region with additional terrorists.
At a penalty hearing on June 5, Dandis admitted that the official “who allowed the special unit to enter the (Palestinian Authority) prison and extract me, is the same individual who enabled me to leave the prison, carry out an attack, and return to the prison. I left only once during my prison term, when I carried out the second act (the attack).”
Yosefa Rubin and Esther Amihai, the mothers of the murdered soldiers, spoke before the judges. Rubin related the unending pain that she has felt since her son’s murder, and explained that the Palestinian Authority is a partner to terror: “This murderer was held by the Palestinian Authority for all these years and enjoyed their protection. He even left prison to carry out an additional attack that, thank G-d, did not succeed. He returned to the shelter of the Authority, which in practice is becoming a full partner in terror activity!”
Rubin demanded that terrorists in general, and Dandis in particular, be severely penalized: “As is well known, the maximum penalty in military legislation for injuring IDF soldiers is the death penalty. Every terrorist who sets out to take lives for his own pleasure must know that the State of Israel will penalize him to the full extent of the law! Today, more than ever, we understand how important and critical Israel’s power of deterrence is.”
Amihai described her immense pain over the murder of her son and strongly objected to the cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and the terrorist: “How can it be that for 17 years a terrorist sat in the Palestinian terror authority ‘summer camp’ that protected him from Israel and enabled him to leave and carry out another terror attack?! How can it be that the second murderer is still in the Palestinian terror authority ‘summer camp’ that is still protecting him from Israel?! We demand that you order the army to bring him to justice, as soon as possible, before he carries out another attack with the encouragement of the Palestinian Authority. How can it be that this murderer receives a salary from the Palestinian terror authority that takes care of all his needs?! How can it be that the murderer of a Jew does this so easily and is still alive?! How can he still be alive?!”
Amihai also asked for Dandis to be be severely penalized: “We demand that the murderer be penalized to the full extent of the law, as the law literally states. His sentencing must deter others! On ethical grounds, a death sentence must be handed down to the murderer! Sentence fairly! Judge with integrity! Do not hide behind sanctimonious expressions. Justice and the law call out: Death penalty for the murderer! If only you had sentenced according to the law in previous cases – just think of how many lives would have been saved. The terrorist would have thought twice about killing a Jew if he had known that he would never return home.”
Yosefa Rubin and Esther Amihai speaking outside of the courthouse; Photo credit: Honenu
Yisrael Rubin and David Amihai, the victims’ brothers, also spoke at the hearing. Yisrael Rubin wondered: “How can it be that for 17 years, a terrorist, a brute of a man, went around freely under the protection of the Palestinian Authority? How can it be that the State of Israel still recognizes terrorists in the Palestinian Authority, corresponds with them, talks to them as if they were not total brutes?! The same Authority that gathers terrorists, that dictates educational materials vilifying Israel. This brute, the murderer, he is not a lone terrorist. He is a symbol of a people who always wants to drive us off of our land.”
David Amihai asked the judges to hand down a death sentence to the terrorist: “You cannot undo the murder that has already happened, but you can prevent the next murder. The power that you have is far greater than the force of the weapon with which the soldiers are fighting. Its influence over the people of Israel is much more significant. Lenient penalization that does not demand a death sentence for terrorists sends a message to every potential terrorist that our blood is cheap, and the value of the life that was taken by the murderer is measured in the time that passes until the next deal or the next hostage taking.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is representing the families as victims of terror, spoke after the hearing: “We are leaving the penalty hearing for a vile terrorist who, together with other terrorists, murdered David Rubin and Ahikam Amihai, Hy”d, in cold blood. His partner in terror is still under the protective custody of the Palestinian Authority, celebrating. Even after they supposedly turned themselves in to the Authority, the terrorists continued to oversee terror gangs and do as they pleased, including carrying weapons in their ‘detention cell.’
“The time has come to learn the lessons from these incidents. After October 7, we understand what happens when we allow brutal individuals like these to live among us. The time has come for every terrorist and everyone who takes part in murderous acts of terror to get their just deserts: the death penalty. There is no reason for them to continue to walk around this world.”
Attorney Bleicher added, “More importantly, the time has come to address the root of the problem: the terror authority known as the Palestinian Authority. They encourage, fund, and defend terror and direct terror attacks. It is obvious to everyone that, as was revealed in this instance, the Authority is party to terror attacks and murders. We are stuck with a very dangerous mindset, much more dangerous than our collective way of thinking concerning Gaza, because there we knew that we were up against an enemy. The problem was that the army did not properly prepare. Here, there are those who imagine that the Arabs are not the enemy, and that the Palestinian Authority cooperates with us. All this cooperation lasts until they have an opportunity to attack us. Beyond the need to destroy the enemy, the time has come to talk about the elephant in the room, the Palestinian Authority, which is the main source of terror in Israel.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher speaking outside of the courthouse; Photo credit: Honenu