A PA court in Hevron Tuesday sentenced two PA police to just 15 years in jail for the murder of off-duty IDF soldiers David Rubin and Achikam Amichai.
The two boys, childhood friends, were ambushed and attacked by four armed terrorists while they were hiking near the Telem Stream in the Hevron region with a female friend.
The young men engaged the terrorists in combat even after they were shot, managing to kill one terrorist and save the life of the female hiker. Two of the surviving terrorists sought refuge with the PA police force in hopes of avoiding arrest by Israel.
Only after the Shabak (General Security Service) filed a request with the Fatah-led PA to return the weapons of the murdered soldier did the PA admit that PA police officer Amr Taha and Islamic court clerk Ali Dandanes had “turned themselves in” to a PA police facility immediately after the murder.
The Olmert government has ordered the IDF to stand down, even though operational plans were ready to be put in effect to apprehend the killers.
Rabbi Yehuda Amichai, father of Achikam, says that the PA has no right to be the arbiter of justice in this case. “The State of Israel must bring these murderers to justice,” he demanded Wednesday. “Prime Minister Ehud Olmert must display some sense of national dignity and reverse this cowardice that allows these paid employees of the PA to serve out their terms at Jericho’s casino.”
Speaking with Haaretz, a member of the PA court said that the offense that the convicted men were guilty of was sabotaging the plans to entrust large parts of Judea and Samaria to PA police once more. He explained the speedy trial, saying that according to agreements with Israel, criminals sentenced by the PA can no longer be extradited to Israel.
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