IDF soldier Or Levi received a sentence of three months of community service for failing to prevent the death of Arik Karp. The court convicted Levi and three Arabs from Jaljulya of failure to prevent a crime in March.
The court determined inMarch that the four defendants stood by while Karp was lynched by their friends in the summer of 2009 on the Tel Aviv boardwalk. Of them, Fouad Moussa and Fadi Jabar were sentenced to six months of community service, while the fourth, Mohammed Adas, received four months.
Sara Karp, the victim's wife, called the decision "a dark day for the court system". She said the four witnesses were liable for murder.
"They have given them a prize for murder… They were accomplices from beginning to end. They didn't prevent it, they murdered him in cold blood. I am shocked at this verdict," she added.
Judge Mordechai Peled of the Tel Aviv Magistrates' Court criticized the defendants for failing prevent their friends from beating the suspect to death.
"Even if the defendants only knew about the crime while it was happening, it still could have been prevented, but they stood by and did nothing," Peled wrote in his verdict.
"Their decision to stand by, without doing anything or calling for help, and continuing as though nothing had happened, is outrageous."
Levi arrived at the courthouse with her father, who defended her bodily and attempted to keep photographers from taking her picture.
After the sentence was read, Levi's attorney said it only appeared to be lenient. "The verdict did not show sensitivity to the fact that she yelled at them to stop, it claims that she was part of the group and didn’t prevent the deed. We are considering appealing," said Attorney Nir Alfasia.
Attorney Tzafrir Yagur, who represents Fouad, Moussa, and Adas, said the defendants never should have been charged to begin with.
"This is a media case because these men are from Jaljulya," he said. "Unfortunately it was convenient for the prosecution to file an unprecedented case."