Stone thrower gets harshest ever sentence in Israel's history
Jerusalem district court convicts the head of a group of youths guilty of killing man in a stone throwing attack on the man's vehicle; sentence is harshest ever passed down for stone throwing in Israel's history.
One of the suspects in a fatal stone throwing attack, which killed an Israeli has been charged with manslaughter instead of murder.
Abed Rabbo Dawiya is charged with the manslaughter of Alexander Levlovich in the East Talpiyot neighborhood in Jerusalem in late 2015.
The attorney's office stated "the accused was convicted of manslaughter for throwing stones at Levlovich's car, thereby causing his death. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison, a suspended sentence and a large fine for damages."
"This is a serious punishment and close to the maximum sentence for manslaughter, reflecting the gravity of his actions and the tragic outcome," the attorney said.
"A sentence of this magnitude has never been imposed for stone throwing in Israel's history," the attorney continued.
"This is the second suspect convicted in this case, and the sentence of the three remaining suspects will continue as planned. The attorney's office offers its condolences to the family. No matter what punishment will be served to the defendants, it will not bring their loved ones back."
The Jerusalem district court authorized the plea bargain which the attorney's office signed with one of the suspects on Monday. Nir, Levlovich's son, opposed the settlement from the outset: "We are shocked that the law doesn't allow murder accusations by stone throwing".
Dawiya was the head of the group that threw rocks at Levlovich's car, making him swerve and hit a post. Jerusalem district court judge Raphael Carmel authorized the settlement behind closed doors, sentencing Dawiya to 18 years in prison and fined him NIS 100,000.
The attorney's office served an indictment against the suspect for the felonies of manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, obstruction of justice, arson and illegal weapon manufacturing in 2015.
Two of the suspects were also charged with throwing Molotov cocktails and stones at security forces during a riot back in 2014.
Nir said that "I opposed the settlement from day one. We shouldn’t negotiate at the expense of victims of terror attacks and legitimize terrorism. (We must) exhaust every possibility to reprimand (for these kinds of acts)."
"The fact that this settlement was reached and even authorized is problematic," he continued. "We should stop the usage of plea bargains as a tool in murder and manslaughter cases immediately."
According to the indictment, the five suspects met on the Eve of Rosh Hashanah in 2015 to throw stones at Jewish cars driving on the main road to Armon HaNetziv in retaliation for Israel occupying the Temple Mount. They threw stones at several cars and managed to hit Levlovich's vehicle, who, as a result, swerved out of his lane and hit a post.
He later died of his wounds at the hospital.
The suspects than fled the scene, meeting later to match their alibis in case they get caught. Levlovich was the first victim in a wave of "lone wolf" terror attacks.
"We hoped that he will be the last victim," his son painfully said last September, one year after his death. "None of us imagined that it was just a sign of things to come".
