The man who drove a Palestinian suicide bomber to Tel Aviv on Dec. 25, resulting in an attack that killed four young Israelis, has been arrested. He is Ofer Schwartzbaum, 39, of Oranit (just west of the Green Line), who maintains that he did not know that the Arab in his car was about to perpetrate an attack. The Shabak suspects, however, that he did know that his passenger was an "illegal alien," an Arab from the Shomron who did not have permission to be in pre-1967 Israel.
The Tel Aviv District Court ordered Schwartzbaum, who was arrested on Thursday, remanded for eight more days yesterday. The indictment served against him states that he regularly transported PA illegals into Green Line Israel.
Schwartzbaum was paid 100 shekels for transporting the terrorist and an accomplice. He said that even after the attack, which occurred only a few minutes after he dropped them off not far from the site of the attack, he did not realize his connection with the act, because only one suicide terrorist was involved, whereas he had driven two passengers. In addition, he knew the accomplice from previous trips. The police note that Schwartzbaum sold his taxi a few days after the attack - an act he later explained as due to its rising insurance costs.
Three soldiers and one civilian were murdered in the attack, and 26 persons were wounded. The victims were three 19- and 20-year-old women - Adva Fisher, Rotem Weinberger, and Angelina Chkerov - and Noam Leibowitz, 22, of Elkanah.
In similar instances in recent years, claims by accomplices and drivers of terrorists that they "didn't know" have essentially been rejected, and stiff sentences have been imposed. One reason is that merely transporting those who are in Israel illegally is in itself illegal, especially because the smuggler-drivers' services are often sought by terrorist organizations.
In one case, in May 2001, a suicide terrorist blew himself up at the HaSharon Mall in Netanya, murdering five Israelis and wounding over 100 others. The Israeli-Arab citizen who drove the terrorist to the mall was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, and will not be permitted to drive for five years beginning on the day he is released from prison. The judges noted that the driver chose to ignore a long series of warning signs that should have alerted him to the fact that his passenger was a terrorist: his inappropriate attire, the fact that other drivers had refused to transport him, the fact that he was offered NIS 200 for a NIS 6 ride, and more. The judges determined that the driver had "closed his eyes and acted hastily and with shocking recklessness, while ignoring the risk to human life."
The Israeli-Arab who drove - unwittingly, he said - two terrorists to the spot at which they blew themselves up and killed five people in July 2002 later received a similar sentence as in the above case. Another driver of a terrorist, whose self-detonation caused no casualties, was sentenced to 42 months in prison and a fine of 70,000 shekels.
The Tel Aviv District Court ordered Schwartzbaum, who was arrested on Thursday, remanded for eight more days yesterday. The indictment served against him states that he regularly transported PA illegals into Green Line Israel.
Schwartzbaum was paid 100 shekels for transporting the terrorist and an accomplice. He said that even after the attack, which occurred only a few minutes after he dropped them off not far from the site of the attack, he did not realize his connection with the act, because only one suicide terrorist was involved, whereas he had driven two passengers. In addition, he knew the accomplice from previous trips. The police note that Schwartzbaum sold his taxi a few days after the attack - an act he later explained as due to its rising insurance costs.
Three soldiers and one civilian were murdered in the attack, and 26 persons were wounded. The victims were three 19- and 20-year-old women - Adva Fisher, Rotem Weinberger, and Angelina Chkerov - and Noam Leibowitz, 22, of Elkanah.
In similar instances in recent years, claims by accomplices and drivers of terrorists that they "didn't know" have essentially been rejected, and stiff sentences have been imposed. One reason is that merely transporting those who are in Israel illegally is in itself illegal, especially because the smuggler-drivers' services are often sought by terrorist organizations.
In one case, in May 2001, a suicide terrorist blew himself up at the HaSharon Mall in Netanya, murdering five Israelis and wounding over 100 others. The Israeli-Arab citizen who drove the terrorist to the mall was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, and will not be permitted to drive for five years beginning on the day he is released from prison. The judges noted that the driver chose to ignore a long series of warning signs that should have alerted him to the fact that his passenger was a terrorist: his inappropriate attire, the fact that other drivers had refused to transport him, the fact that he was offered NIS 200 for a NIS 6 ride, and more. The judges determined that the driver had "closed his eyes and acted hastily and with shocking recklessness, while ignoring the risk to human life."
The Israeli-Arab who drove - unwittingly, he said - two terrorists to the spot at which they blew themselves up and killed five people in July 2002 later received a similar sentence as in the above case. Another driver of a terrorist, whose self-detonation caused no casualties, was sentenced to 42 months in prison and a fine of 70,000 shekels.