The Jerusalem District Court is hearing the state’s appeal in the case of the arson attack against the Jerusalem Bilingual School, a school attended by Arabs and Jews. The suspects in the case have been convicted but the state feels the sentences handed down are too lenient.

The case in point is yet another example of the double standard this has become the policy of the state prosecution under the leadership of Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein.

The case is being heard by Justice Tzvi Segal, who on Tuesday, 28 Cheshvan expressed harsh criticism against the prosecution when hearing the state is requesting 4-7 years imprisonment on one of the convicted defendants. This is because a number of months ago the prosecution was seeking lighter sentences, 2-4 years for an Arab who was found guilty of an arson attack against a Jerusalem shul using a firebomb.

Justice Segal asked the prosecutor “Why did the state request a lighter sentence for the arsonist of a shul while here in the case of the school the opposite is true?”

The court’s question is in regard to the third defendant, Yitzchak G., whose sentence has not been finalized.

The prosecutor explains in the case of the shul attack in French Hill involving the Arab resident of Jerusalem’s Issawiya neighborhood, the shul was empty and damage was minimal while damage to the school was extensive and there was hate graffiti left at the scene. The court rejected the prosecution’s argument.

Defense attorney Itamar Ben-Givir pointed out the prosecution feels it is logical in this case to mete out a sentence that is twice as severe as in the French Hill shul attack or an arson attack against a police station. In both of those cases the state requested light punishment. Ben-Givir pointed out the state’s discriminatory policy and called on the court to address the prosecution’s policy of inequality.

Photo: Justice Tzvi Segal

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem / Photo: Court website)