In an unusual decision in the case of the killing of Aisha al-Rabi, High Court Justice Ruth Ronnen ordered on Tuesday that the prison sentence of a young Jewish man sentenced to 13 years in prison for her death in 2018 be suspended.
The decision means that the young man will not be sent to prison at this stage and will be allowed to await the outcome of his appeal against his conviction.
The ruling came after the High Court examined the circumstances of the conviction, which was based on circumstantial evidence, and the fact that the District Court's verdict was reached by a majority, with one of the three judges on the panel believing that the young man should be acquitted due to reasonable doubt.
The case began in 2018, when Aisha al-Rabi was killed after a large rock was thrown at a Palestinian Authority-registered vehicle in which she was traveling with members of her family. The young man, who was a minor at the time of the incident, was prosecuted for his alleged involvement.
Following lengthy legal proceedings, the Lod District Court convicted him by a two-to-one majority. Last September, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. However, the defense appealed to the Supreme Court and requested that the beginning of his sentence be postponed until the appeal was heard.
Justice Ronnen granted the request, ruling that the circumstances of the case justified an exception to the general rule that a defendant who has been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment must begin serving the sentence even while an appeal is pending.
"This case falls within the exception," Ronnen wrote in her decision.
"If the appeal is accepted and the young man is acquitted, he will not have to serve any prison sentence at all. Therefore, if he is sent to prison before his appeal is heard, he could end up serving a period of imprisonment unnecessarily."
Another central consideration in her decision concerned the prospects of the appeal.
Ronnen clarified that, at this stage, it could not be determined that the appeal was without merit, particularly in light of the disagreement among the District Court judges.
Alongside considerations relating to the conviction itself, Ronnen also took into account the young man's personal circumstances and his conduct since the incident.
In her ruling, she noted that approximately eight years had passed since al-Rabi's killing and that, throughout that period, the young man had remained out of prison without committing any additional offenses.
She also emphasized that he had no other criminal record and had been a minor at the time of the incident.
Attorneys Yaron Halevy and Adi Keidar, who represent the young man on behalf of the Honenu legal aid organization, said they hoped the High Court would ultimately adopt the position of the District Court judge who had voted to acquit him.
"We welcome the court's decision to suspend the execution of the sentence and are confident that this is the opening shot that will pave the way for the appellant's complete acquittal," the attorneys said.
"This is a precedent-setting decision based on the District Court's unusual ruling, in which the judges were divided, with the presiding judge choosing to acquit the defendant.
"We hope that the Supreme Court justices will have the courage to adopt her acquittal opinion, order the appellant's complete acquittal, and allow him to begin his life after an eight-year struggle," the two attorneys concluded.