The Beer Sheva District Court this week acquitted a Jewish resident of Ma’on farm, a settlement in the south of Mount Hebron who was arrested a year and a half ago on suspicion of attacking foreign leftist activists, and an indictment was filed against him for aggravated assault.
The settler is represented by attorney Avichai Hajbi of the Honenu Legal Aid Society.
Ma’on was established in 1981 as a Nahal semi-military settlement and in 1982 was turned into a civilian settlement by members of Bnei Akiva. It is named after the biblical settlement Ma’on which was located nearby. Archaeologist Zvi Ilan discovered the remains of a synagogue there and estimates that Jews lived there through the Byzantine period.
In his ruling, Judge Alon Gabizon said the testimony relied on by the prosecution, that the settler was the one who attacked the left-wing activists, was not admissible and that the foreign activist’s “testimony is unreliable and there is doubt regarding the reliability and truthfulness of the identification in his testimony.”
The judge also noted that the police investigation was conducted negligently, favoring the version of the left-wing activists and ignoring the testimony of the settler.
Attorney Hajbi welcomed the verdict and said: “The court, Honorable Judge Alon Gabizon, fully adopted the defense line. The court stated that during the cross-examination it was discovered that the state sought to convict my client based on the testimony of a foreign resident who is an anarchist, a liar, and a manipulator. The court even determined that Israel Police carried out an improper investigation to try to incriminate my client. I am happy that the court did not give in to the pressures of the state and the US embassy and ordered the acquittal of my client.”
Folks, please email a copy of this report to your Congress Member, as well as to the White House, care of VP Kamala Harris and NSA Jake Sullivan, and to the State Dept., care of Secretary Antony Blinken.
