Yehonatan Palmer of blessed memory
Yehonatan Palmer of blessed memoryPalmer family

A military court has sentenced Palestinian Authority resident terrorist Wael al-Arja to two life sentences in prison for the murders of Asher and Yonatan Palmer.

He was sentenced to an additional nearly 60 years in prison for involvement in several other rock attacks.

Wael hurled large stones at the Palmers’ car, hitting Asher Palmer in the face as he drove to pick up his wife, Pua, from work at a Jerusalem hospital.

The injury led to a car crash in which Asher and his son Yonatan were both killed. Yonatan had been two days shy of his first birthday.

Police initially labeled the fatal car crash an accident. Only when their announcement sparked protests among local residents, officials and the media did they reconsider, ultimately finding that the deaths were the result of a terrorist attack.

The verdict finding Wael al-Arja guilty of murder earlier in the month was hailed as a landmark ruling by experts, who said it shows that judges are beginning to treat rock attacks as potentially deadly assault.