The State Prosecution is planning to drop charges filed in the Jerusalem District Court against Ze'ev Braude, after the Supreme Court decided that certain classified evidence must be revealed in court. Braude was accused of injuring two Arab residents of Hevron.
In an earlier decision, rendered by the Jerusalem District Court, Braude was released to house arrest, where he currently remains. At the time, the court chastised police for failing to act against the Arabs who attacked Braude during the incident, which would have bolstered the self-defense claim by the defendant.
Braude, a resident of Kiryat Arba, was charged with opening fire at an Arab family in December 2008, during the forced eviction of Jewish families from Peace House (Beit HaShalom) in Hevron. In order to mount a defense, Braude's attorney, Ariel Atari, appealed to the Supreme Court for access to material the Prosecutor's Office said was classified as "confidential." In its response to the appeal, the State told the court that revealing any details of the requested material would risk a threat to national security.
After looking through the classified evidence himself, Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein issued his decision: "The file contains material that may, on the face of it, contribute to the appellant's defense... and therefore, it would be correct to accept the appeal." He further noted that the State "has determined that the cost to the public in revealing the material is greater than the public interest in trying the appellant - a position which appears to me to be the correct one."
In response to the decision, Atari said that the court acted justly. "Braude acted out of self-defense, and the material in the State's possession could have established his acquittal," he said.
The Honenu legal aid organization, dedicated to assisting Jews accused of crimes of a nationalist nature, praised the Supreme Court's decision, saying: "Braude's story is that of many Jews who were attacked by Arab rioters and, when they tried to defend their lives, found themselves behind bars. It is also the story of the Jewish nationalist prisoners, who acted out of security crises similar to the one Braude found himself in. The time has come for the State of the Jews to recognize the rights of Jews to defend themselves, and the sooner, the better."
The B'tselem advocacy organization said the State should pursue the prosecution of Braude, whom the human rights group calls "a violent settler." The State, according to B'tselem, "must find alternative ways to judge Braude according to the letter of the law, but canceling the indictment is not a legitimate alternative."