Abdullah Ishaq, the driver of the terror cell that murdered Malachi Rosenfeld in a shooting attack near Shilo ,was sentenced to life imprisonment Sunday. The Judea Military Court also sentenced Ishaq to an additional 30 years for the attempted murder of three other Israelis.
"The murderer got his punishment, but we prefer the death penalty and the expulsion of the murderers' families," said Eliezer Rosenfeld, Malachi's father.
"The terrorist who was behind all these murders was released in the Shalit deal and ran a terror cell for half a year under the nose of security forces by transferring money and gifts and all kinds of codes and instructions to the killers," said Eliezer. "For us, this isn't closure. The wound is still open and the loss of Malachi is always present."
The father also added, "We prefer to busy ourselves with preserving Malachi's legacy instead of being in the court room—connecting with the people of Israel, family unity and carrying on with life, just like Malachi would have wanted. We would like to thank the military prosecution and the judges for their sympathy and for the special attention to the letter we read during sentencing which chilled the courtroom. It is extremely difficult for us to see the face of that terrorist. We prefer to concentrate on Malachi's face."
Malachi Rosenfeld, 25, was murdered in a shooting attack in June 2015 after returning home from a game of basketball with his friends. His older brother, who was a pilot in the Air Force, died 13 years ago during a trip in southern Israel.