Bedouins slam farmer's bid for Beersheba City Council

Southern city's municipal race jolted as local branch of eco party lists Shai Dromi, accused of 2006 killing of Bedouin burglar, as candidate in upcoming elections. 'List tainted with blood,' says local Bedouin official
Ilana Curiel

In the eye of the storm, again: Negev farmer Shai Dromi announced recently he would be joining the Green Party's roster in the upcoming Beersheba municipal elections.

Dromi gained notoriety of sorts in December of 2006, when he shot and killed a Bedouin burglar who broke into his farm.

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License to kill? / Arieh Amit, Yossi Sedbon

Following the controversial arrest of farmer Shai Dromi, who shot and killed a Bedouin burglar in December, lawmakers were quick to propose a bill permitting the shooting of offenders. The US has enforced a similar law; legislators say it will deter trespassers. Opponents of the new bill say it constitutes a death sentence for innocent trespassers and grants citizens higher authority than police officers

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Though arrested promptly after the incident, Dromi did not stand trial for murder, as the State opted to file charges of manslaughter, illegal possession of a firearm and aggravated assault against him, instead.

Dromi pled not guilty on all counts. The case against him is still pending.

Dromi's case also prompted the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee – and subsequently the Knesset – to vote in favor of the Home Invasion Act. Dubbed the "Dromi Bill," it states that home owners who wound or kill intruders found on their property be absolved from any criminal liability.

Finding Dromi's name on the party's roster did not go over well with the Bedouin residents of southern Israel.

"This list is tainted with blood," Hassan al-Rafaya, head of the council for unrecognized Bedouin villages, told Ynet on Tuesday.

"How can he be running for the City Council? People who have been charged with such serious crimes shouldn’t be allowed to act as a public official. People like him belong in jail, not in City Hall," added Rafaya.

Yehuda Alush, who heads the Green Party's Beersheba branch, does not agree: "We hand picked the people on our list," he told Ynet. "The list voices the green agenda and Dromi represents our vision for social ecology."