Three young men from Beersheba who looted the belongings of victims and survivors at the Nova music festival site a day after the October 7 massacre were sentenced to prison. The Beersheba Magistrate’s Court on Monday handed down sentences of 36 to 40 months to Liran Yaakovov, Netanel Aviv and Oz Chai Rahum. Each was also fined 18,000 shekels.
In her ruling, Judge Shosh Shitrit wrote: “Alongside the unimaginable horror of murder, abuse and kidnapping, another unthinkable phenomenon emerged — internal looting by citizens of the state. The defendants’ conduct reflects extreme, shallow and unforgivable opportunism, carried out under the cover of the chaos of a murderous terror attack, and demonstrates how a national crisis can become fertile ground for moral collapse.”
On Oct. 8, 2023, Yaakovov, Aviv and Rahum drove to the festival area. According to the amended indictment, filed by prosecutor Tehila Niddam of the Southern District Attorney’s Office and to which the three pleaded guilty, Yaakovov told security forces at the scene that he lived in a nearby moshav in order to enter the area, which had been declared a closed military zone.
Once inside, the three roamed the site to steal remaining property, entering a caravan and abandoned vehicles. Among other items, they took the laptop of the late Jenny Nissimboim, the credit card and ID of the late Shay Mutzafi, the ID of the late Matan Lior, and additional belongings of people who were murdered and of festivalgoers who fled.
In arguments ahead of sentencing, Niddam said the defendants’ actions contradicted the most basic social norms of human society, reflecting a crossing of moral boundaries, a collapse of values, a trampling of human compassion and a willingness to exploit the distress of others for personal gain. She noted that the acts were committed while bodies were still lying in nearby killing zones.
Judge Shitrit convicted the three, based on their confessions, of theft, entering a military area, obstructing a police officer, breaking into a vehicle with intent to steal and additional offenses. Rahum was also convicted of drug possession for personal use after drugs were found during a search of his home.
Yaakovov was sentenced to 36 months in prison and a suspended sentence, Aviv to 38 months and Rahum to 40 months. “Looting under the circumstances described in the indictment is not merely a criminal property offense,” the judge wrote. “It is an absolute betrayal of human dignity and basic social solidarity.”