Judge's gavel
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6 years later: Life sentence for Palestinian who murdered Israeli
Jihad Najar convicted of murdering Yair Har Sinai from Hebron region six years ago. Judges: 'The time elapsed… does not justify a lesser punishment'
The IDF Military Court in Judea handed down on Sunday a life sentence to Jihad Najar, who was convicted of the murder of Yair Har Sinai six years ago. Har Sinai, 51 at the time of the murder, was a shepherd from the Susia settlement in the Hebron Hills.
According to the indictment from 2002, Najar, who meticulously planned the murder, approached Har Sinai feigning interest in buying sheep and stabbed him to death. Najar's partner, Muhammad Dur, then shot Har Sinai to confirm his death. Dur was killed by IDF fire in an arrest attempt in 2003.
The prosecution claimed in court that the nature of the crime, the nationalist motive, and the barbaric manner in which the accused stabbed the deceased necessitate a life sentence. Najar's defense asked the court to hand down a lighter sentence.
In their verdict, the judges wrote that, "Whoever murders an innocent man only because he is of another nation or religion cannot expect much sympathy from the court. The time elapsed since the crime was carried out neither dulls its severity nor justifies a lesser punishment."
