Jerusalem District Court Justice Noam Solberg has sentenced an Arab rock-thrower to 40 months in prison and a 20,000-shekel fine. The convict threw rocks on several occasions at Jewish worshipers at the Grave of Simon the Just in the Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood, causing at least two injuries – including blinding a man in one eye.
The Arab was convicted, in a plea bargain deal, of aggravated assault and battery and related crimes. He was found to have thrown rocks at Jewish worshipers in February 2008, July 2008, and May 2009. In one of the cases, he hit a Jewish man – the plaintiff in the case – in the head, breaking his glasses and costing him the sight in his left eye. The man has been evaluated by the National Insurance Institute as being 35% incapacitated.
In another case, one of the Arab’s rocks hit a Jewish worshiper in his shoulder, and in yet a third case, he hit a man’s forehead, causing an injury that required medical treatment.
The State Prosecutor asked for strict punishment, explaining that there must be a clear message of deterrence in view of increasing number rock-throwing incidents and the dangers involved. The defendant’s attorney asked the court to recognize that the accused had accepted responsibility for his actions.
Judge Solberg, who narrowly missed being chosen for a spot on Israel’s Supreme Court several weeks ago, handed down a relatively heavy sentence. “This is not just a potential danger, but rather we see in front of us the severe and permanent damage caused to a citizen who wished to pray at the Tomb of Shimon HaTzaddik and lost the sight in his left eye as a result of a rock thrown by the accused. It is clear and obvious that there must be a heavy punishment in order to express the severity of the act and its consequences, and in order to deter him and others like him. The accused also planned out these attacks and repeated them even after he saw the damage he caused. The punishment must get him to cease and desist.”