Exactly three years after the Oct. 7 massacre, the Be'er Sheva Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday sentenced Ram Shahin, 34, to seven years in prison for stealing sound equipment belonging to Matan Lior Mordechai, who was murdered at the Nova music festival after remaining at the scene to help save others.
Shahin was also fined 60,000 shekels and ordered to pay 75,000 shekels in compensation to Mordechai’s parents. Daniel Hasson, 30, who was also involved in the theft, was sentenced to 40 months in prison, while sentencing for a third defendant, San Lucian Tevel, 35, was postponed because of medical circumstances.
Matan Lior Mordechai
(Photo: courtest of the family)
Shahin was convicted of aggravated theft and obtaining property by deception under aggravated circumstances after contesting the charges. The court found that he lied and behaved manipulatively during the proceedings. Hasson and Tevel were convicted under plea agreements, each according to his role, of aiding aggravated theft and attempted obtaining of property by deception under aggravated circumstances. The three were arrested in November 2023.
Mordechai was later awarded a civilian heroism medal by the president for his actions during the massacre, after taking responsibility for the area around him and helping save numerous lives before he was killed.
Judge Amir Doron wrote in the sentencing decision that “Shahin cynically exploited the chaos that prevailed at the Nova site. He knew the chances that anyone would suspect his intentions were slim.”
The court rejected Shahin’s claim that he had acted out of “generosity and altruism” and intended to return the equipment to Mordechai’s family.
“The defendant chose to take only the victim’s expensive sound systems, worth hundreds of thousands of shekels,” Doron wrote. “His audacity and insistence on continuing to steal the second system led to the conclusion that this was premeditated conduct under horrifying circumstances. He chose deceitful methods to break down resistance.”
Doron added: “The morning of Oct. 7, 2023, was etched into the history of the State of Israel as a day of darkness, when young people were murdered, among them Matan, who remained behind to save others until he fell.”
“At a time when the victims’ blood was soaking into the killing fields, while the entire nation was in mourning, the defendants chose to exploit the public’s suffering and take abandoned property for financial gain,” he wrote. “This is an extreme moral low without parallel. Where human compassion was required, the defendants displayed complete indifference. Their actions amount to an abomination at the country’s most difficult hour.”
The judge also said their crimes diverted valuable public resources toward investigating the thefts.
Hasson later attempted to trade Mordechai’s property, conduct the court said demonstrated “callousness.” He was ordered to pay Mordechai’s parents 40,000 shekels in compensation.
“The defendants sought to profit from the disaster, and the court must send a message that anyone who desecrates the dignity of the dead will face the full force of the justice system,” the court said.
Before the hearing, Mordechai’s mother, Sara, said: “These are despicable people. As far as I’m concerned, they are not human beings. They came after the massacre, with the smell of bodies and burned cars, and they did not care.”
According to the indictment, the three falsely claimed that they had come to collect equipment belonging to a missing friend, then loaded the sound system and generator. One of them later allegedly told police that he was Mordechai’s business partner, leading authorities to release the truck carrying the equipment.