Terrorist minor involved in murder of Tuvia Weissman gets life in jail

The tougher sentence came after an appeal by the IDF Prosecution from a Judea Military Court decision to the Military Appeals Court.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
IDF Sgt. Tuvia Yanai Weissman (R), his wife, and baby (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
IDF Sgt. Tuvia Yanai Weissman (R), his wife, and baby
(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
One of the three Palestinian minors involved in the February 2016 stabbing spree in a Rami Levy supermarket, in which Sgt. Tuvia Yanai Weissman was killed and another victim was wounded, had his sentence stiffened from 35 years to life in prison on Wednesday.
The tougher sentence came after an appeal by the IDF Prosecution from a Judea Military Court decision to the Military Appeals Court.
Lawyer Chaim Bleicher of Honenu, representing Weissman’s family, praised the decision and had strongly backed the appeal.
Although the appeals court has rendered a life sentence, due to the fact that the minor in question was only 14 at the time of the crime, there is still a high probability that at some point he will be released for good behavior or in a prisoner exchange.
It is exceedingly rare that a 14-year-old would actually serve a full life sentence, even for murder.
Two other defendants had been given sentences of 35 years and 32 years in jail, and it was unclear if their original sentences would stand. All three defendants’ names are still under gag order because they were minors when they perpetrated the crimes in question.
The Judea Military Court, which had handed down the two 35-year jail sentences and one 32-year sentence in July 2019, had emphasized their status as minors as the main basis for denying the request for life in prison, which is typical for murder by convicts over the age of 18.
The Judea court also fined the two leading murderers NIS 2.5 million each.
Despite the appeal, even the Judea Military Court decision broke new ground.
Its sentencing of the third minor to over 30 years in prison for being an accomplice to murder was significant, as it came despite the fact that he was prevented by the store’s staff from entering the store and taking part in the murder.
In the attacks at the Rami Levy supermarket in Sha’ar Binyamin in the eastern Binyamin region industrial area, two of the three minors followed through on a conspiracy to murder Weissman, and they also wounded a second man.
Weissman, 21, served in the IDF’s Nahal Brigade, and was the married father of a baby girl.
He lived in Ma’aleh Michmash and was off duty at the time of the attack.
The supermarket is frequented by both Israeli and Palestinian customers. Both Jews and Muslims work at the branch.