In a powerful display of democratic rule and a strong judicial system, an Israeli court sent two Israelis teens to prison for murdering a Palestinian teen.
An Israeli court on Thursday sentenced two Israeli teens for the 2014 murder of a 16-year-old Palestinian, sending one to life in prison for a crime that sparked a violent Palestinian outburst and an outcry and condemnation from the Israeli public.
The court sentenced a second Israeli, believed to have had a lesser role in the crime, to 21 years in prison. Another Israeli is awaiting a verdict following a psychological examination.
“The sentence imposed on the defendants reflects what we asked for and the barbaric and atrocious act,” said Ori Korb, the state prosecutor. He said the murder marked a “moral nadir.”
The Israelis sentenced Thursday snatched Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir from a Jerusalem neighborhood in July 2014, driving him to a forest where they burned him to death.
The murder was carried out in revenge for the abduction and killing earlier that summer of three Israeli teens by Palestinian Hamas terrorists.
Hussein Abu Khdeir, Mohammed’s father, told Israeli Radio that the family planned to appeal the shorter sentence to the Israeli Supreme Court.
Abu Khdeir’s murder was roundly condemned across the Israeli political spectrum and shocked Israelis, also because it was an outstanding and singular act of violence, which Israelis are not accustomed too.
By: AP and United with Israel Staff
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