Former Tourism Minister Rehavam (Gandhi) Zeevi
Photo: GPO
‘Court has jurisdiction over Zeevi murder’
Appeal by attorneys of tourism minister’s assassins rejected; Court rules it has jurisdiction over ‘crimes committed by Palestinians on Israeli land against Israelis’
The murderers of former Tourism Minister Rehavam (Gandhi) Zeevi can be prosecuted in Israel,
the Jerusalem District Court ruled on Wednesday.
Indictments have been filed against Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) members Basel al-Asmer and Hamdi Koran, Zeevi’s killers, as well as Ahed Abu Gholmi and Majdi Rimawi, the assassination’s instigators. The four were charged with murder and membership in a terror organization.
Before the assassins responded to the indictments against them, their attorney’s Leah Zemel and Riad Anis questioned the court’s jurisdiction. The attorney’s claimed that since their clients had already been tried and sentenced in the PA, they could not be tried again in Israel.
Zemel and Anis also claimed that the defendants were tried in the PA as per Israel’s demand, which meant that the State could not file a new indictment against the defendants.
The attorneys further claimed that the court had no jurisdiction since the crime occurred in east Jerusalem.
The court rejected the claims.
The court’s decision read, “Regarding the jurisdiction of Israeli courts to try the defendants, the law says that an Israeli court follows municipal laws of the State. According to this law, the place that Rehavam Zeevi was murdered is part of Israel, based on the declaration of Israel’s capital.
“In the intermediary agreement concerning the West Bank, it was decided that the State of Israel would have jurisdiction over unique cases regarding crimes committed by Palestinians on Israeli land against Israelis, as well as actions that hurt Israel’s security interests,” the court ruled.
