Nirit Zmora, who was wounded in a terror attack at the Gush Etzion junction two and a half years ago, asked the military court in Ofer to obligate the terrorist to compensate her 5 million shekels (1.4 million dollars).
Within the framework of sentencing arguments against the terrorist who stabbed and wounded Zmora, attorney Haim Bleicher is asking for compensation based on a damage calculation taking into account Zmora’s wounds, pain and suffering, and punitive compensation.
"The defendant harmed Nirit because she was a Jew for racist, nationalist motives, without the complainant harming him or having any dispute with him," said Bleicher, who represents Zmora on behalf of the Honenu legal organization. “In light of the severity of the attack and the motive, as much punitive compensation as the law allows should be imposed on the defendant.”
Nirit Zmora arrived Wednesday morning for a hearing at the Ofer Military Court, where the hearings for sentencing arguments against the terrorist, who attacked her with a knife, began. The terrorist received an attempted manslaughter conviction only because his knife broke during the attack.
Zmora asked the judges of the military court to impose the maximum sentence on the terrorist.
“I stand before you today in more pain than before the verdict, still hurting, stunned, and appalled. It's hard to come to this place after what I experienced here, and the fact that I stand here alive, standing on two legs cannot be attributed to the murderer sitting here in court. I can easily imagine not myself standing here, but rather the victims murdered in cold blood, stabbed with a knife. The only subtle difference between them and me is that by the grace of G-d the knife broke in my back.”
"It's important for me to say that we're not motivated by revenge. I ask the judges to at least apply the maximum sentence to the murderer sitting here in accordance with the verdict, which I regret you ruled."
Zmora was stabbed by a terrorist with a knife drawn at the Gush Etzion junction in October 2015. The terrorist, Faiz Hamza, a Hevron resident, was caught. Zmora was seriously wounded during the incident. However, the terrorist's knife broke during the stabbing, leading the judges to conclude the terrorist should be acquitted of attempted murder.
The main reason for the judges' decision is the impossibility in proving the terrorist's intention was to murder.