News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Justice Devora Atar of Petach Tikva sentenced a 55-year-old man to four years in prison on Wednesday for transporting illegal Palestinian Authority Arab entrants to pre-1967 Israel. The man, who was convicted of transporting illegal entrants on at least three other occasions, was also required to pay a NIS 25,000 fine.

Atar defended the unusually harsh punishment in her verdict, explaining that the man was “brazen, with no borders... He continues to endanger the public time after time by transporting a large number of illegal entrants.” The defendant argued that the crime was committed unintentionally, saying he had picked the illegal entrants up within pre-1967 Israel and had not had time to check their papers.