Yossi Atiya (L), Ariel Bodah
Terrorist who killed 2 soldiers gets 80 years in jail
Riad Abd Arafat, convicted of Tapuach Junction shooting which left Staff-Sergeant Yossi Atiya and Second-Lieutenant Ariel Bodah dead, sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus 30 years
Riad Abd Arafat, a terrorist convicted of being an accomplice to a 2005 attack on Tapuach Junction in the West Bank, was sentenced Sunday to two consecutive life sentences with an additional 30 years – an 80-year prison term.
The January 2005 attack claimed the lives of IDF soldiers Staff-Sergeant Yossi Atiya and Second-Lieutenant Ariel Bodah.
Just before the sentence was read, Arafat, who was also convicted of being an accomplice to several other terror attacks, told the court that he "doesn’t recognize Israel or this court. Israel is an oppressor."
The 2005 attack was carefully planned and according to the defense establishment the terror cell planning it began preparing for it in 2004.
The plan was to place a bogus stop sign at the junction, wait for an Israeli car to obey it and open fire. Arafat was the lookout, meant to signal the others as a vehicle approached.
When Atiya and Bodah's vehicle unwittingly followed the scenario, two members of terror cell, dressed in IDF uniform, riddled the car with bullets using M-16 rifles. Atiya was killed instantly. Bodah was critically injured and died nine months later.
Arafat was also convicted of several shooting attacks, including a 2007 attack that left and IDF soldier seriously wounded.
The defendant, said the court, "has the blood of two dead soldiers on his hands, as well as that of dozens of others who were injured. All we can do is inflict the punishment allowed by law as retaliation for these greave acts, and keep him away from other human beings permanently."
