Law enforcement officials have sharply criticized the handling of the legal proceedings in the murder case of Binyamin Yamano Zalka in Petah Tikva.
Sources familiar with the case claim that the court is seeking to advance plea agreements with the defendants despite opposition from prosecutors, who want the trial to continue, Channel 12 News reported Thursday.
According to the report, senior law enforcement officials have also expressed disappointment over decisions to release defendants during the proceedings. Of the 15 defendants arrested in connection with the case, only four remain behind bars, and some of them are expected to be released as well.
"This was supposed to be a landmark case," senior law enforcement officials told Channel 12 News. "What happened to the late Yamano Zalka could happen to anyone, which is why we sought to have the defendants held in custody until the conclusion of the legal proceedings, to serve as a deterrent."
The officials added, "From the outset, we requested that all the defendants be detained until the end of the proceedings because of the serious danger they pose. The fact that they are minors should not shield them in a case involving knives and stabbings. The court did not see it that way and released most of them."
The Courts Administration rejected allegations that the court was pressuring the parties to reach plea agreements.
"The court carries out its duties in accordance with the law, and describing its conduct in this context as 'exerting pressure' is a misrepresentation of the facts," a spokesperson said.
The spokesperson clarified that no plea agreement is currently being considered for the main defendant in the stabbing, who remains in custody until the conclusion of the proceedings.
However, plea agreements are being considered for other defendants who are under house arrest and subject to restrictive conditions, in accordance with the law and with the consent of the parties involved.
The murder occurred on the eve of Israel's Independence Day outside a pizzeria in Petah Tikva, where Zalka worked as a shift manager.
According to the indictment, the confrontation began when Zalka asked a group of teenagers not to spray artificial snow inside the restaurant.
Prosecutors allege that the teenagers subsequently waited for him outside the pizzeria and attacked him with punches and kicks. During the assault, one of them fatally stabbed Zalka.
A significant development occurred in the trial last month when the main defendant admitted in court for the first time that he was the person who stabbed Zalka. Nevertheless, he continues to deny the allegations in the indictment that constitute the murder charge.
The remaining defendants, some of whom admitted participating in the assault but claimed they acted in self-defense, are standing trial on charges of causing bodily harm with aggravated intent.