On Monday night, IDF fighters destroyed the home of the terrorist Khalil Doikat, 46, who murdered Rabbi Shai Ohayon in a terrorist attack in Petah Tikva more than two months ago. The demolition took place in the village of Rujeib outside Shechem.
Some 150 Arabs rioted during the demolition, burning tires and throwing stones and bottles at the forces. In response, the fighters used dispersal means against the Arab mob.
The demolition was made possible after the High Court of Justice last week rejected the petition of Doikat’s family and ruled that his home should be demolished. Two conservative justices on the panel of three, Justices Noam Solberg and Yael Wilner, supported the dismissal of the petition, while left-leaning Justice Mennny Mazuz believed the petition should be accepted, but remained in the minority.
“The seriousness of the act he committed is overt and known, a criminal act,” Judge Solberg wrote for the majority.
“It was the murder of a man who was walking innocently on a city street because he was a Jew,” Judge Solberg added, stating: “Such a horror requires effective deterrence, which will be beneficial in preventing the recurrence of such acts because to our understanding there are other potential attacks coming.”
Judge Mazuz noted that the family members were unaware of the intentions of the father of the family and that there are many security officials who have questioned over the years whether home demolition is a deterrent. He noted that even if it is an effective deterrence, it does not justify harming the innocent, and the end doesn’t sanctify the means.
In an earlier panel, in August, Nazuz and Justice George Karra blocked the demolition of the home of the terrorist Nazmi Mahmoud Yunis Abu Bakr who fatally struck Golani fighter Amit Ben Yigal with a rock. Justice Yael Wilner was then in the minority and supported the demolition of the murderer’s house.
The prosecution filed an indictment against Doikat last September, charging him with aggravated murder and possession of a knife while committing an act of terrorism. The indictment reveals the series of events from the moment he decided to murder an Israeli citizen until the execution of his plan. According to the indictment, Doikat, who worked as a construction worker at a construction site in Petah Tikva using a legal work permit, decided to stab a Jewish soldier or citizen to death. On August 26 he decided to carry out the attack, took a knife from the kitchen of the construction site, put it in his pants pocket, and left the site. After searching for a suitable victim and the opportunity to carry out the attack for about an hour, the defendant noticed Rabbi Shai Ohayon who was walking in front of him in the Sgula junction at about 1:15 PM.
He pulled the knife out of his pants pocket and stabbed his victim three times. A passerby noticed the attack and threw an object at Doikat to help Ohayon get away. The terrorist let go of Ohayon, who was already in a fatal condition, put the blood-stained knife back in his pants pocket, and began to walk away, considering a similar stabbing attack on other Israeli pedestrians. At that point, police forces arrived on the scene and managed to control Doikat and arrest him.
They didn’t shoot him.