As the Olmert government prepares to further arm the Palestinian Authority, a PA policeman who intentionally murdered an Israeli Border Police officer on a joint patrol was sentenced Wednesday.
PA police officer Na’al Yassin was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years at the IDF’s Salem Military Court in Samaria Wednesday for murdering Border Police Officer Yossi Tabijah in September, 2000.
The murder took place on September 29, during a joint PA and Israeli patrol mandated by the Oslo Accords outside the PA-controlled city of Kalkilya. An Israeli and PA jeep were parked next to each other when Yassin came out of the jeep, yelled Allahu Akbar and began firing inside the Israeli vehicle at the two Border Police inside. Tabijah was killed and his fellow officer was badly wounded in the attack.
The IDF prosecutor called Yassin an “animal that hates life” and described how he emptied several clips into the jeep, even reloading several times.
At his trial, Yassin expressed confidence that he would be released from prison as part of a future deal and assured those present that he would kill Israelis again. He also said: “If you want peace, go back to Europe.”