Two men sentenced to 22 and 14 years for Eilat gang rape of teen

A Beersheba court sentences two men convicted of taking part in a notorious gang rape of a teenage girl in Eilat in 2020 to 22 and 14 years in jail.

Issy Raphaelov, 31, is sentenced to 22 years in prison and ordered to pay NIS 200,000 in compensation, while Eliezer Meirav, 30, is sentenced to 14 years and ordered to pay NIS 100,000.

The court delays the sentencing of two minors, both aged 17, who were also convicted of rape, sexual assault, gang rape and a host of other crimes against the victim, who was 16 at the time.

Another seven people, many of them minors, were convicted of aiding the assault, failing to stop the act, and other charges.

The case shocked the country and spurred calls for reforms, as testimony indicated that a large group of men lined up outside the intoxicated girl’s hotel room, awaiting their turn to rape her, as eyewitnesses failed to intervene.