Court rejects Palestinian suspect’s petition to exhume helmet of slain soldier
Nazmi Abu Bakr, suspected of killing Amit Ben-Ygal by throwing brick at his head from building, argued that headgear buried with serviceman is key evidence in his case
The High Court of Justice on Monday rejected a request by a Palestinian man suspected of killing an IDF soldier who sought to have the serviceman’s grave opened so that his helmet, which was buried with him, can be examined.
Nazmi Abu Bakr is suspected of throwing a brick from the roof of his family’s home that fatally struck Amit Ben-Ygal in the head while the 21-year-old soldier was taking part in a raid in the West Bank village of Yabed on May 12, 2020.
Abu Bakr’s legal team had argued that the helmet could show evidence that Ben-Ygal did not die from the brick hitting him.
The court, however, unanimously threw out the appeal in a decision welcomed by Ben-Ygal’s family.
“Thank God the court prevented unnecessary suffering,” Ben-Ygal’s father, Baruch told Channel 12 news.
He said that although a year and half has passed since his son’s death, “every day there is something new” concerning the incident.
Eli Ben-Shem, chair of Yad Labanim, the national association for bereaved families in Israel, welcomed the outcome of the hearing, saying the court had “prevented a dangerous precedence of opening the grave of an IDF soldier and harming the bereaved family.”
Ben-Shem said the request by Bakr is “a new terrorism — legal terror that can and will receive the stamp of approval by the High Court of Justice” and one “that seeks to harm the bereaved families.”
The Shin Bet security service said that Abu Bakr confessed to throwing the brick that killed Ben-Ygal. He was arrested along with several other people who were believed to have been in the building at the time, and confessed several weeks later, according to the security agency.
The Times of Israel Community.