Terror victim's family to ask judge for maximum sentencing
Family of Reuven Schmerling, who was killed last year on Sukkot, writes letter to judge pleading that 2 terrorists who stabbed him to death remain in prison for life, never be exchanged in prisoner swap.
The family of terror victim Reuven (Moti) Schmerling have written a letter which they plan to read to a judge on Sunday in an attempt to convince him to toughen the sentencing of two Palestinians accused of his brutal murder last October.
The family will also be seeking a guarantee from the judge that Schmerling’s killers will never be released in a future prisoner exchange and will remain in prison for the rest of their lives.
"My beloved partner, a man of grace and joy, a man of prayer and achievement, will not return," reads the letter by the widow Chana Schmerling. "The terrorists, Palestinians between the ages of 19 and 20, entered Israel in order to brutally murder a Jew solely because he was a Jew! Israeli law determines that they be sentenced for life, and I wonder: will they be? And under what conditions?
"After all, the sad reality is well known: In a few years the president will commute their sentence and when they are released, they will be forty, still young, with their whole lives ahead of them. And us? Our lives were destroyed and will never go back (to the way they were),” the letter continues.
The attack took place on the eve of Sukkot, October 4. Schmerling, a contractor from Elkana, arrived at his warehouse in Kafr Qassem. That day, which was also his 70th birthday, his wife and children arranged a surprise party for him which they planned to celebrate upon his return.
Schmerling arrived at the warehouse where the attack took place and knocked on the door. When Youssef Kamil and Mohamad Abu al-Roub opened it to let him in, they were reprimanded for only being "good at sleeping and eating."
Against a background of disputes, the two had already resolved that Schmerling would be their victim in a premeditated plot. Kamil was asked by Schmerling to load a forklift battery onto his vehicle. After doing so, Kamil returned to the room when the two decided to carry out the attack.
According to the plan detailed in the indictment, the two culprits agreed that Abu al-Roub would lead Schmerling into the room pretending that the fridge was broken and distract him while Kamil would stab him with the 18-inch knife they had purchased.
Kamil called the driver and had him come to pick them up, to ensure they would be able to escape immediately after the murder. Shortly thereafter, while Schmerling was checking the fridge, Kamil pulled out the knife from the mattress and stabbed Schmerling behind his left shoulder.
In an attempt to defend himself, Schmerling picked up a chair in the room and hit Kamil with it in the leg. Abu al-Roub then pushed Schmerling and beat him around the head with a fan nearby while Kamil continued to stab him repeatedly in his stomach, chest and elsewhere.
Abu al-Roub then left the room and returned shortly after with a pickax by the door and stuck Schmerling with it in the stomach.
The indictment highlights that due to the knife bending in the process of the attack, Kamil threw it on the floor and took the pickax from al-Roub and used it to strike Schmerling in the head.
Schmerling is survived by four children: Shai Schmerling (36), Yonit Tsafrir (44), Idit Betzer (46) Shiri Brand (47) and 19 grandchildren. Four days after the incident, the media published that the terrorists had been captured and that this was a nationalistic murder.
This coming Sunday, the two terrorists will be sentenced in the Central District Court. Schmerling's family will attend the hearing with the letter they wrote, and ask to read it to the judges.
"The worsening of conditions for terrorists' imprisonment, who murder deliberately, only out of hatred for the citizens of Israel, will serve as an important bargaining chip against the terrorist organizations, who are known to not respect international law, and will serve as a deterrence,” reads the letter.
“Is this not the purpose of the law? As one whose world has been destroyed, I urge you, please, do not be kind to the murderers and perhaps we will be able to deter and even prevent the next murder, the destruction of another family."
The family has also embarked on a crowdfunding venture to establish a synagogue in their town in memory of Mr. Reuven. Donations can be given through JGIVE.
