Amiram Ben-Uliel, who is serving three life sentences for the murder of the Dawabsheh family in the West Bank village of Duma, will be granted a conjugal visit with his wife, 10 years after he began serving his sentence in December 2015.
The decision followed an announcement by the Central District Prosecutor’s Office that it was withdrawing its opposition to a petition filed by Ben-Uliel’s attorney, Guy Arenberg. As a result, a court hearing scheduled for Wednesday on the third petition in the matter was canceled, and the Israel Prison Service is expected to coordinate the date of the visit.
Arenberg told Ynet that Ben-Uliel would receive the conjugal visit after a decade in prison, following what he described as a prolonged legal effort. He said three petitions had been filed over the past year, and that prosecutors informed the court they were dropping their objection shortly before the latest hearing was due to take place.
In the third petition, Arenberg argued that Ben-Uliel, a security prisoner held in the religious wing of Ayalon Prison, had committed no disciplinary violations and that his conduct behind bars was not exceptional. In the past, and again ahead of the third hearing, the Shin Bet opposed granting the visit, citing security concerns and arguing that Ben-Uliel remained a symbol for extremist activists.
The Shin Bet previously said Ben-Uliel continued to hold radical views and that updated intelligence indicated he remained dangerous. Prosecutors, however, said that following a recent meeting between Shin Bet officials and Ben-Uliel, he made statements that “indicated a reduction in the risk posed by granting the relief sought in the petition.”
Attorney Guy ArenbergPhoto: Shani RoditiThe prosecution added that despite intelligence pointing to Ben-Uliel’s dangerousness, “after weighing all relevant considerations, it was decided not to oppose the request.”
According to Arenberg, in light of the prosecution’s decision to withdraw its objection, the petition has become moot and the Prison Service will now coordinate arrangements for the conjugal visit.
Ben-Uliel was convicted in 2020 of three counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, arson and conspiracy to commit a racially motivated crime, in what the court ruled was a terrorist act. He was sentenced to three life terms for the July 2015 arson attack in Duma, in which a Palestinian family’s home was firebombed, killing Ali Dawabsheh, 18 months old, and later his parents, Saad and Riham Dawabsheh, who died of their injuries.