Man jailed for 15 years for attempted murder of IDF soldier during May 2021 riots
Arab Israeli spotted mob attacking soldier in Jaffa, ran across road to join in, hitting him with 3-kilogram rock before fleeing
Michael Horovitz is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel
An Arab Israeli man was sentenced on Thursday to 15 years in prison by the Tel Aviv District Court for taking part in the beating of an IDF soldier in Jaffa during nationwide unrest in May 2021.
Nur Youssef, 32, was convicted in February of attempted murder, after he ran across the street to join a mob assaulting the soldier on a main road, hitting him over the head with a three-kilogram (6.6-pound) rock.
In addition to imprisonment, Youssef was ordered to pay NIS 100,000 ($27,000) to his victim in damages.
In February, the court rejected Youssef’s defense that he did not intend to kill the soldier and only attacked him because he believed the soldier was in possession of a stone and had threatening intentions.
According to prosecutors, the mob fled after beating the soldier, leaving him with severe injuries.
Prosecution attorneys Uri Goldstein and Oren Haim said in a statement that they had requested the court hand down a more severe sentence of 24 years of jail time and that they would consider further steps, indicating they might appeal the ruling.
The attack came during a period of unrest in May 2021 that saw the worst violence between Jewish and Arab communities in decades. Amid intense fighting with Gaza and tensions in Jerusalem, Israel’s ethnically mixed Jewish and Arab communities erupted in mob violence, which police failed to contain.
In the weeks after the clashes simmered down, police followed up with a major operation to apprehend suspects for involvement in the violence that led to the arrest of over 1,550 people, the majority of them Arab Israelis. More than 150 indictments have been filed.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
