The court found Kutub guilty of committing a terrorist act and willfully causing damage to a vehicle. Additionally, he was ordered to pay 24,000 NIS in compensation to the three Jewish victims. Kutub also faces another indictment for theft and assaulting a police officer in a separate incident.
The lynching occurred on Jerusalem Day, when the riots of Operation Guardian of the Walls began. A group of assailants, including Kutub, attacked a vehicle containing three Jews while they were stuck in traffic at the Rockefeller intersection. The assailants hurled stones and objects at the car as it tried to escape, continuing the chase until near the Lion's Gate. One assailant even opened the car door and sprayed pepper spray at the passengers.
As a result of the stone-throwing and pepper spray, the driver was injured and lost control of the vehicle, which then veered into a low wall, running over Kutub. Following the incident, police arrested several suspects involved, but Kutub's identity as the run-over assailant was initially unknown. Later, Kutub filed a compensation claim against the driver attacked in the lynching, attempting to inflict economic harm.
The driver approached the Honenu organization, and in the defense statement, attorneys Menashe Yado and Chaim Bleicher proved that Kutub was indeed the assailant involved in the lynching. Consequently, the court dismissed Kutub's claim and continues to review the counterclaim against him. Meanwhile, the victim filed a police complaint identifying the assailant, leading to Kutub's arrest and the gathering of evidence for prosecution.
Attorney Chaim Bleicher from Honenu stated after the sentencing: "The end for the terrorist is imprisonment. It is good for the security of Israeli citizens that the dangerous terrorist was convicted and is entering a prison term. Nevertheless, we believe this is a lenient sentence considering the severity of his actions and his participation in the vicious lynching, as well as in relation to existing case law. There is no justification for leniency for terrorists acting against the State of Israel and its citizens. We will appeal to the prosecution to request a harsher sentence."
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