A soldier and a prison guard were acquitted on Monday in the 2015 killing of an Eritrean man who was shot and beaten to death by a mob in the aftermath of a terror attack after being mistaken for an assailant.
The Be'er Sheva District Court ruled that Yaakov Shimba and Ronen Cohen were not guilty of injury with grave intent in the death of Habtom Zerhom, citing “reasonable doubt.”
The judge said Zerhom was “the target of rampant aggression that has no justification,” but accepted the defendants’ claim that they beat Zerhom because they believed him to be an attacker.
The video of the 2015 mob killing of Habtom Zerhom
In the October 18, 2015 attack, an Arab man armed with a knife and gun killed a soldier, stole his weapon and opened fire into a crowd at the Be'er Sheva central bus station, wounding nine.
In the ensuing mayhem, Zerhom, a 29-year-old Eritrean migrant, ran into the station to seek shelter. A security guard mistook him for a second attacker and shot him.
A mob, which included Shimba and Cohen, then proceeded to kick and beat Zerhom while he lay on the floor bleeding, as several bystanders tried to protect him. He later died of his wounds at a hospital.
After the killing of Zerhom, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the vigilantism. Some critics accused Israel’s leaders of fostering the charged climate, while others called for the swift prosecution of those involved in the mob.
Two others charged in the case were convicted and sentenced to four months in prison and 100 days of community service, respectively. One was ordered to pay compensation to Zerhom’s family, which is suing the government for damages.