From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 4, 2024
Eight assailants in rape of Eilat teen given years-long prison sentences
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The Beersheba District Court hands down tough sentences ranging from two to eight years in prison for eight young men who either raped or aided and abetted the rape of a 16-year old girl in Eilat in 2020, when all but one of the offenders were 17.
The notorious mass-rape incident scandalized the country and became known as the “Rape in Eilat” case. Two other adult perpetrators were handed 22-year and 14-year prison sentences in February this year.
“It is our duty to convey in this sentence a clear message in the hope that it will resonate far and wide — such harmful sex crimes, even if they were committed by minors, will be met by the court with zero tolerance and a harsh and painful punishment, which will express the deep and necessary societal disgust to acts of this kind, and will reflect the appropriate punitive response to these acts,” the court says, in handing down the new sentences.
The court sentences two of the perpetrators who raped the girl and who were 17 at the time to eight and a half years in prison and orders them to pay NIS 70,000 (some $18,664) each in compensation.
Another man convicted of aiding and abetting the rape and who was 19 at the time was sentenced to seven years in prison and NIS 50,000 ($13,331) in compensation.
Four other offenders all of whom were 17 at the time were sentenced to between 27 months to four and a half years in prison for aiding and abetting the rape and engaging in indecent acts under aggravated circumstances.
One other offender is sentenced to five months community service and NIS 10,000 ($2,666) compensation for encouraging indecent acts under aggravated circumstances.
“These sentences express the severity of the crimes and the force and depth of the injury and humiliation that was caused to the victim by the offenders, and sends a sharp and clear ethical and societal message to young men — the body soul of a young woman are not there for the taking, all the more so when she is in need of help,” says Attorney Rotem Yohanani Har-Tzion, who was responsible for the case in the State Attorney’s Office.
