'Unnecessary abuse of authority.' (Archive photo)
צילום: איי אף פי
Abusive officers get jail time
Three Border Guard officers convicted of abusing, robbing Palestinians who were residing in Israel illegally
TEL AVIV - Three Border Guard officers who abused Palestinians were sentenced Thursday to 10 months in prison, in addition to an eight-month suspended sentence.
In March 2004, off-duty Border Guard officers Benny Timsit, Guy Tzuriel and Shlomi Mor-Haim arrived in Lod’s Ganei-Aviv neighborhood, where they asked a local police officer to drive them to a home where eight Palestinian workers from the West Bank village Yata were residing illegally.
The Border Guards woke the Palestinians with cries of “Police! Police!” and ordered them to stand against a wall. Tzuriel and Mor-Haim cocked their M-16 rifles, told the Palestinians to lie facedown on the floor, and pursued to beat them.
Later the officers conducted a body search of the Palestinians, ordered them to empty their pockets, and took a chain, cell phone and money; then they kicked and slapped the Palestinians while threatening them that if they raise their heads they would be beaten.
Mor-Haim poured sugar and oil on the Palestinians’ feet, and his friends forced them to perform push-ups.
Finally the three returned to their base and divided up the money they had robbed.
No justification
The three admitted to charges of demanding assets under threats, theft, and abuse of authority.
Tel Aviv Magistrates Court Judge Tzvi Gurfinkel said in his verdict, “This is a severe case of unnecessary abuse of authority to commit violent acts against people living in Israel illegally and taking advantage of the situation to steal their money.”
“The officers treated the plaintiffs in a disgraceful manner, beat them, humiliated and stole their money,” he said.
“There is no explanation or justification for such behavior.”
Gurfinkel added that even though officers and soldiers are sometimes thrown into situations in which they lose their ‘cool’ and act in an illegal and violent manner, in this case the officers were not provoked.
“The accused officers cast a stain on Border Guard officers and gave the country they are representing a bad name,” he said.
