The district court in Be'er Sheva handed down the sentence this morning (Monday) of four police officers who were convicted of various offenses against the residents of the Palestinian Authority during their service as Border Police officers on regular duty.
The main crimes: armed robbery, demanding property under threats, aggravated assault, abuse, conspiracy to commit a crime, breach of trust and destruction of evidence.
As part of plea bargains, the defendants received prison sentences between 48 and 9 months in prison (each defendant received a different sentence) and related penalties. Also, the defendants were ordered to pay financial compensation to the victims of the crime.
The verdict reads: "The defendants, some of whom wore veils and face masks in some cases, used the power of authority given to them in what appears to be a "method" they adopted to instill fear in a significant number of Palestinians who tried to enter Israel through a breach in the fence while threatening them, beating and humiliating them. aiming their weapons at them, documenting their actions and robbing their money while presenting a false representation of conducting a search and under the guise of checking their documents."
The court justified its decision by saying that it "considered the physical, mental and property damage caused to the victims of the crime", and also added, "the damage that could have been caused to the victims of the crime if one of the events had gotten complicated". The court is harsh with the defendants since they acted on behalf of the law "the disparity of power between the defendants who acted under the authority of the regime, when they are equipped with weapons and uniforms and the victims of the crime who belong to the civilian population; for the humiliation and humiliation that accompanied the actions of some of the defendants in some of the incidents".
Finally, the court states that the name of the State of Israel is decisive: "the damage that the defendants caused not only to the image of the law enforcement agencies but also to the good name of the State of Israel which by the way conducts a difficult campaign in the face of various and many hostile parties seeking to harm it and its residents, struggles to prove its morality and the purity of its weapons in every possible arena, also in the context of dealing with the Palestinian population."
- On the other hand, we will recall that the peace court that convicted a Palestinian who whipped a Jew in the face with a belt on the Temple Mount and attacked two others came out in a plea deal without punishment despite the clear conviction of the judge. Also, dozens of indictments filed against Palestinians who harmed Jews are not accused of a nationalist motive but only of a criminal one.