The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court has handed out prison sentences to a pair of Jewish residents who brutally attacked and critically injured a Palestinian from Eastern Jerusalem.
Noam Elimelech received 11 years behind bars for his involvement in the assault and was ordered to pay NIS 100,000 ($30,000) in compensation, according to the court’s ruling.
The second convict, Naftali Elmakayes, received 4.5 years behind bars.
During his verdict, Judge Eli Abarbanel said that this attack exhibits the gravest of intentions and terrorist crimes.
On May 12, 2021, Elimelech and Elmakayes compounded by two others made their way toward Mahane Yehuda Market in Western Jerusalem, deciding en route that they would beat an Arab passerby, the court ruling said.
Upon arriving, they spotted the victim taking out trash from the restaurant where he worked. The assailants approached him, confirmed that he was indeed an Arab, and began to assault him.
Elimelech repeatedly stabbed him in his body.
The Arab man, 24, is from Sheikh Jarrah and works at an Israeli restaurant to pay for his studies. He lost a lot of blood because of the stabbing and has now become handicapped and was forced to withdraw from his studies.
The prosecutors had accused the four Jews of terrorism.
Before heading to the market, they were participating in a protest against Sheikh Jarrah and chanting "May your village burn.”
The prosecutors said that the suspects talked with the victim to make sure he was an Arab. Upon confirming that, one of them pepper sprayed him before they started beating him.
They added that while one of the suspects stabbed the man, the others were beating him. After spotting the blood, the fourth suspect escaped.
