The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Sunday morning sentenced Kamal Hamidan to 12 months in prison for abusing a Chareidi worker with special needs at the Supersol branch in Gush Etzion in 2019.
Hamidan, who will also have to pay NIS 10,000 in compensation, is appealing the sentence. The judge granted a request from Hamidan’s lawyer to postpone the date of his incarceration to September 20 in order to file an appeal.
In 2019, Israeli social media users were shocked by a video that circulated on social media showing Hamidan humiliating and beating a Chareidi special needs employee. The police were notified and Hamidan was arrested.
The ruling stated: “The video and victim’s report show that the harm to the victim was and still is significant. The defendant has no mental or emotional disability. Was he as a human being incapable of comprehending the wrongdoing of his actions? Did the defendant need instructions from the employer to refrain from tying up and slapping another employee with special needs? To mock him and demand that he answer questions of a sexual nature – all while being filmed?”
The mother of the special needs man criticized the amount of compensation, telling the judge. “We wanted him to be independent and this money doesn’t allow us the possibility of rehabilitating him as we wanted. Compensation of NIS 10,000 is nothing, enough to buy pizza and ice cream. He needs rehab, to work, to rebuild his trust in himself, in others and in the workplace – this doesn’t cover treatment and rehab.”
The Chareidi man’s lawyers said: “The indictment describes a series of serious acts against a helpless young man, which was videoed and distributed on social media. The verdict conveys an important message in criminal law but it doesn’t express the civil responsibility of Supersol and the defendant for the serious damages caused to our client. We will demand full civil compensation from the defendant and Supersol.”
Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir, who initially represented the Chareidi man before entering the Knesset, said: “The verdict is an important message but the punishment should have been more severe. The court ruled that the appropriate sentence should be between 12 and 24 months imprisonment, and in such a serious case it would have been appropriate to sentence the defendant to the most severe punishment.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
Time irrelevant. Judge needs to be charged and dismissed. Young man of special needs is primary. Arab needs jail time and rehabilitation in thought process. Shame of financial package. This is Israel. Not a woke civilization. Shame. Arab deserves jail plus 3 years probation working with special needs children if his kind.