Judge allows Aisha Rabi murder suspect to carry out house arrest in West Bank home

Central District Court Judge Ido Druyan-Gamaliel has agreed to allow the Israeli suspected of killing a Palestinian mother of eight to carry out his house arrest at his parents’ home in the West Bank, against the recommendation of the State Prosecutor’s Office.

The teenager, whose identity hasn’t been released due to his age, was released to house arrest last May at his grandparents’ house in Kfar Saba.

He is accused of hurling a stone that struck and killed 47-year-old Aisha Rabi while she was driving home with her husband and daughter in October 2018.

Until now, the court had barred him from residing beyond the Green Line due to concerns that he’d be closer to settler extremists, including those at his Rehelim yeshiva in the northern West Bank.

The teen’s attorneys had requested that he be allowed to stay with his parents in the Kochav Hashachar settlement, saying that the current lodging scenario was becoming too burdensome on his grandparents.

The judge accepted the lawyers’ argument that Kochav Hashachar is no closer to Rehelim than Kfar Saba is and so there is no need for concern that he’ll reestablish contact with students in the yeshiva, who he is barred from talking with according to the terms of his release.

The prosecution had opposed the request, stating that part of the goal of the house arrest was to distance the teen from the West Bank.

However, the judge concluded that Kochav Hashachar is a “normative community” and that the electronic monitoring bracelet would be able to update authorities if he ventured out to the more radical surrounding outposts.

The judge rejected the defense’s request to reduce the number of required adult supervisors over the teen from two to one.