So instead of sending Athamneh to a cold dark cell, Judge Ron Shapira chose to sentence the stalker pedophile to serve six months of community service volunteering at the Hadera Chevra Kadisha. That’s right. Athamneh is given a mitzvah to perform!
For those who do not know, a chevra kadisha is a community group who perform established rituals of purifiying, dressing and watching over the bodies of deceased Jews, so that they can be returned to the earth cleansed of all impurities. It is one of the greatest honors and commandments to provide this final service to deceased Jews.
Judge Ron Shapira imposed one condition on his revocation of jail time for Athamneh. He ordered that the community service penalty would be revoked and a prison term would be imposed if the rapist pedophile commits any further sex offenses over the course of the next three years. Whew.
The prosecutors in this case appealed the outrageous sentence to the Israeli Supreme Court, which allowed the sentence to stand.
Final score:
Bad guys: Nawaf Athamneh, New Israel Fund, Haifa District Court Judge Ron Shapira, the Israeli Supreme Court. Good guys: sister and mother of the victim.
The jury is still out for the rest of us.