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Court overturns conviction of leftist who called troops 'Nazis'
Petah Tikva District Court says Oded Efrati hasn't committed any offenses since incident in West Bank and conviction would severely hurt his career
The Petah Tikva District Court overturned on Thursday the conviction of a businessman and left-wing activist who called IDF soldiers 'Nazis' over four years ago in the West Bank.
Oded Efrati appealed his conviction in the Kfar Saba Magistrates' Court, claiming it was hurting his livelihood.
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The District Court decided to overturn the conviction as Efrati had proved that his livelihood was hurt immeasurably and after he had expressed regret and even compensated the soldiers with NIS 3,000 (about $800) each.
During the incident in 2007, which took place near the Palestinian village of Salem, Efrati protested the manner in which two soldiers were treating the locals and called out, "You are Nazis. Jews weren't treated this badly in the Holocaust."
In the framework of a plea bargain, Efrati was convicted of insulting a public official. He was handed a six-month suspended sentence and ordered to complete 60 hours of community service.
At the time the probation service recommended that the conviction be overturned. "(Efrati) does not have a criminal record. He served in the army and from a young age has participated in voluntary activities out of a commitment to humanitarian values, social justice and equality," the probation service said in its recommendation.
The Kfar Saba Magistrates' Court rejected the request.
Efrati claimed the conviction would hurt his livelihood as the engineering company he owns carries out projects for defense and security bodies, which refrain from hiring people with criminal records.
Efrati said the conviction would also hurt his 120 employees.
The Petah Tikva District Court explained its decision to overturn the conviction by saying that while Efrati's verbal assault on the soldiers was "nasty," he had not committed any offenses since then and took responsibility for his actions.
"The incident was not indicative of chronic behavior, and the conviction may severely hurt Efrati's professional career," the court said.
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