The High Court of Justice last week rejected an appeal from brothers Danny and Itzik Halamish, residents of the Gush Etzion community of Maale Rechavam, named after the late government minister Rechavam Ze’evi, who was murdered by Arab gunmen in a Jerusalem hotel.

The appeal surrounded an incident which occurred some four years ago, when the two were called to a field near their home where Arabs set up an illegal tent. As the incident became somewhat heated, the brothers realized the Arab crowd was growing in size and they rapidly found themselves in a threatening situation, prompting a local security official to fire his weapon in the air in the hope of distancing the mob. The brothers left the scene but that did not prevent the Arabs from later filing complaints against the two with police, alleging they injured a number of Arabs during an assault which never involved them.

Despite conflicting testimonies by the witnesses for the prosecution, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s and District Courts found them guilty, sentencing the two to prison terms of 7 and 8 months.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)