Man, 80, gets life in prison for burning nurse to death at clinic in 2017

The Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday sentenced an 80-year-old man to life in prison for murdering a nurse at the clinic where she worked by setting her on fire.

The court also ordered Asher Faraj to pay NIS 258,000 to the family of the victim, Tova Kararo. He was convicted of her murder in March this year after a psychiatric examination determined he was fit to stand trial.

Kararo’s daughters, Nofer and Rinat, who were at the hearing, welcomed the sentence, saying in a statement, “These have been complicated and intense years full of longing and pain, and there is no doubt that this gives a very great sense of relief.”

“Nothing will bring back my mother and no punishment will feel severe enough, but we welcome that the court gave him the maximum sentence,” the statement said.

The Kararos called on the heath and education ministers, as well as the prime minister, to do more to prevent violence in society.

On March 14, 2017, Faraj entered an examination room at his local HMO clinic in the city of Holon with a bottle of flammable liquid and two lighters. He covered Kararo, 55, with the liquid before setting her on fire. Kararo was declared dead at the scene by emergency workers.

According to court papers, Faraj became angry after a flu shot he received from Kararo a week earlier, which made him feel weak and unwell.

Staff members said Faraj had returned to the clinic every day after his inoculation to angrily confront staff, and refused to believe them when they explained he was experiencing routine side effects of the vaccine.

Faraj “visited [Kararo] frequently on various medical matters, and therefore knew clinic staff as a whole and the deceased in particular,” prosecutors had said.

Faraj booked a blood test and arrived at the clinic with a bottle of flammable liquid and two lighters, according to the indictment. He waited his turn, and after he entered the examination room, deliberately covered Kararo with the liquid before setting her on fire.

Faraj fled the scene in his car, but was caught by police after a chase.

The incident prompted much of Israel’s health care, education and social work systems to shut down for two hours on the day after the attack, in protest of acts of violence directed at staff.

Health care officials say violence against doctors and other medical staff by angry patients and family members is a chronic issue in Israel.

Faraj was born in Iraq, but gets benefits from Israeli authorities as a Holocaust survivor because of anti-Semitism he suffered in his youth, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.