Alexander Levlovich
Alexander Levlovich's killers handed lengthy prison terms
After more than 3 years since fatal attack that came to symbolize the onset of a wave of terror, 3 Arabs sent to prison; Levlovich family: 'We said we wouldn’t rest until justice was served. Despite reference to manslaughter and not murder, we prefer to see the cup as half full.'
Three Arabs were handed prison sentences Thursday morning for their involvement in the manslaughter of Alexander Levlovich,
64, who was killed in 2015 in a car crash caused when rocks were thrown at his traveling vehicle.
Bringing the protracted case to its conclusion, the Jerusalem District Court sentenced Muhammad Salah Abu Kaf to 15 years, Walid Firas al-Atrash to 13.5 years and a minor, whose identity was not disclosed, to three years.
Over a year ago, the ringleader of the stone-throwers, Mahmoud Abed Dwayyat, was given 18 years in prison as part of a plea bargain. Another minor involved in the fatal attack was also sentenced at the same time as Dwayyat to nine years in prison.
(צילום: אריק אבולוף, כבאות והצלה ירושלים)
The case marked the first time that indictments have been served in civil courts for stone-throwing and causing manslaughter.
The sentencings come over three years after Levlovich was fatally wounded in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv (East Talpiot) on the eve of Rosh Hashana—the Jewish new year—in 2015 when he lost control of his car after it was pelted with stones by Palestinians. He was returning home after a festive meal.
In 2015, five of the then-suspects, all from the Sur Baher east Jerusalem neighborhood, were indicted.
According to the indictments, the convicts met on the night of the killing with the intention of throwing rocks at cars containing Jewish passengers on the road leading to Armon Hanatziv.
A few cars were struck by their rocks and after Levlovich’s vehicle was hit, he swerved and crashed into a tree and then a utility pole. He later succumbed to his wounds.
The perpetrators fled the scene after causing Levlovich’s crash and met at a later time to coordinate a false version of events.
The presiding judge, Raphael Carmel, explained his reasons for the sentences. “The great risk posed by throwing rocks demands the imposition of a punishment that deters both the perpetrator himself and other potential criminals—the young people who are easily tempted to throw rocks. A large proportion of them are normative youths with no criminal records,” he said.
(Photo: Eli Mendelbaum)
“The defendants sought to carry this out for a long time and to that end set up a lookout that was supposed to give them peace of mind while they threw the rocks and to alert them to the arrival of security forces,” he continued.
“Indeed, the defendants threw rocks for 15 minutes and hit a number of vehicles. Moreover, their actions did not stop until the result: a car crash into a tree and then into a utility pole after veering off the road.”
After their arrest, the defendants told interrogators that they chose a location that would give them maximal visibility, allowing them to identify Israeli cars, while the defendant who threw the stone that killed Levlovich said he came to the scene carrying a Hamas flag.
“There can be no forgetting that the throwing of rocks at traveling vehicles constitutes violent behavior that seeks to harm people on their journeys, whether they are babies, children or adults,” the statement justifying their sentences read.
“The perpetrators did this not in order to frighten but rather to harm, and the size of the rock that hit the deceased attests to that.”
Speaking after the sentencing, the Levlovich family expressed relief at the conclusion of the “two-and a-half years of suffering” but frustration over the fact that the convicts were sentenced for manslaughter rather than murder.
“Dad, we promised you and kept our word that we would not sit or rest until justice had been served. We prefer to see a cup half full and despite the clause about manslaughter and not murder, we praise the respect of Judge Rafael Carmel who decided to give the abhorrent murderers heavy sentences considering what Israeli law permits,” the family said in a statement.
“We hope this verdict will constitute a significant precedent for the courts’ mechanisms for punishment and will further intensify the punishments for rock-throwers. A rock is a murder weapon and this sould be remembered and anchored in Israel law.”
