3 men who killed Ashdod taxi driver get life sentences

Petah Tikva District Court convicts Palestinians Mahmad Haldi, Mahmoud Uda, Ahmed Hanaini in murder of 55-year old Gregory Rabinovitch.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Haldi and Uda 248.88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Haldi and Uda 248.88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Petah Tikva District Court convicted three Palestinians in the murder of Gregory Rabinovitch, a 55-year-old taxi driver from Ashdod whose body was found near Gan Yavne almost two and a half years ago.
The killers, Mahmad Haldi, Mahmoud Uda and Ahmed Hanaini were sentenced to life imprisonment by the court.
RELATED:7 nabbed for cab-driver murderPalestinian teen shot dead
The murderers are Palestinians from the village of Arana who had already confessed to the killing.
During his initial interrogation, Haldi said they decided to murder Rabinovitch to avenge the death of a family member, a senior Islamic Jihad  member killed by Israel in 2007.
According to the charge sheet, Haldi and Uda entered Israel legally on May 10, planning to carry out a robbery in the Ashdod area.
They said that together with a third man, Hanaini, the two boarded Rabinovitch's cab and decided to rob him.
They then allegedly led the driver to a side road near Gan Yavne, where they strangled him to death.
Haldi also admitted to interrogators that he had been involved in shooting attacks and had planned to kidnap and murder an IDF soldier in the West Bank.
Yaakov Katz contributed to this report