Sgt. Ron Kokia
Mother of terrorist who killed IDF soldier expelled to West Bank
Police expel Ma’azuza Abu Jaudah, mother of Sgt. Ron Kokia's killer, who had resided illegally in the Bedouin town of Kuseife for 30 years, for lacking required permits.
The mother of the terrorist who murdered IDF soldier Sgt. Ron Kokia
in Arad in December last year was arrested Monday and expelled to the West Bank for residing in Israel illegally.
Ma’azuza, the mother of Khaled Abu Jaudah—who stabbed Kokia to death while he was waiting for a bus outside a shopping mall—was apprehended in the Bedouin town of Kuseife for not possessing the required permission to enter Israel, despite the fact that she has been living in the country for 30 years.
Khaled and his half-brother Zahi Abu Jaudah, two Bedouin from the town, were indicted shortly after the terror attack.
Sgt. Ron Kokia
Following her arrest, police drove Ma’azuza to the Sham'a Checkpoint straddling the West Bank and the Negev, where she was handed over to the Palestinian-controlled side.
Her husband Odeh recounted the moment Ma’azuza was removed from the town. “An officer took her and said ‘We’re throwing her behind the checkpoint.’ I told him ‘Man, this isn’t the way, this is a woman who has never had anything in her life.’ I don’t know what has happened to the police,” he said.
Odeh noted there had been a notable change in the police’s treatment of his family since the murder. “We all condemn it. But you don’t have to punish the entire family,” he said.
Ma’azuza’s lawyer, Nasser Mustaffa, pointed out that there were many women from the West Bank that live in the Bedouin community.
“In this case, the state is selectively enforcing things because of her son,” he complained in an interview with Ynet. “He will receive his punishment, but why does she have to suffer?”
Ma’azuza, 53, was arrested for the first time one week ago after which the Be’er Sheva District Court accepted her appeal and ordered that she be released from custody and put on house arrest instead. During the judicial discussion, the police informed the court that they intended to indict her.
The judge, Ariel Vago, demurred, insisting that there was little justification. “None of the suspects’ circumstances changed to the degree that this would justify this extreme treatment,” he said.
Furthermore, he addressed in his decision the content of a document that was presented by the police explaining the reasons for the sudden change.
“What has been said may lead to reconsidering the fact a blind eye has been turned to her prolonged stay in Israel, and perhaps not, and I do not express an opinion. But it is difficult to justify a shift to the opposite extreme approach, according to which there is no alternative but to detain her until an indictment is filed.”
On Sunday, Ma’azuza attended a court hearing where she was told that police had no intention of filing an indictment against her. On Monday, she was arrested once again.
Despite contentions by her lawyer that she was being targeted due to her son’s actions, Ma’azuza had already become entangled with the law prior to the attack.
She was apprehended before Kokia’s murder on suspicion of residing in Israel illegally, but no further steps were taken against her, even though she is in possession of a document granting her permission to remain in Israel during the day, but not during the night.
According to standard policy, indictments are served against such individuals for illegally entering Israel three times over the span of one year.
Since she was arrested twice, she was brought to the police station and no indictment was filed. She was informed, however, that if she was arrested for a third time, an indictment would be served against her.
At the end of December, an indictment was submitted against Khaled Abu Jaudah for a string of crimes, including the murder of Sgt. Kokia. His half brother was indicted for attempted murder.
