The District Court in Jerusalem handed a sentence of 38 months in prison to the terrorist Muhammad Abu Ghanem, who set fire to Rabbi Dov Lior's car about a year ago in the Beit Orot neighborhood in Jerusalem.
The terrorist, who was convicted of the crimes of setting fire to a weapon, malicious damage to a vehicle and other racially motivated crimes, was also required to pay a fine of NIS 5,000.
In sentencing, Judge Hana Lomp stated that the terrorist carried out the arson with a racial motive and with prior planning: "These are not acts that were carried out on the basis of a momentary whim, but acts that are the result of prior planning, when the accused could have stopped his actions at any stage, and despite this he continued them" .
"The accused committed the acts with a racial motive, while showing enmity and hostility towards the public or parts of the population due to belonging to a national ethnic origin. The accused was aware that these vehicles belonged to Jews in view of the fact that it was the Beit Orot neighborhood where Jews live, and in view of the fact that in the parking lot there were holy books, which according to the defendant, belong to religious people. The circumstances of the defendant's actions and the circumstances of the incident also show the defendant's intention to damage the property of Jews," Judge Lomp wrote.
Attorney Haim Bleicher from the Honnu organization who accompanied the Rabbi as a victim of a crime said: "We welcome the terrorist's imprisonment for several years. There is an important message here of significant punishment against terrorists even when it comes to a terrorist with a mental background. Personal considerations of the terrorists must not come at the expense of the war on terror."