Parents, wife of Duma murder suspect insist he’s innocent

The parents of a Jewish man indicted Sunday for murder in a July terror attack that killed three members of a Palestinian family declared their belief in their son’s innocence and condemned attacks on Palestinians.

In a video distributed to members of the press Sunday, hours before prosecutors filed indictments against two Jewish suspects — their son, 21-year old Amiram Ben-Uliel of Jerusalem, and an unnamed minor — Reuven Ben-Uliel, community rabbi in the West Bank settlement of Karmei Tzur, spoke directly into the camera as his wife, Nurit, looked on.

“We, the parents of Amiram, are shocked and stunned at the suspicions attached to our beloved son,” he said of the July firebombing of the Dawabsha household in the West Bank village of Duma.

“We believe in our son’s innocence, which will come to light in court, and hope that the court will be exposed to the severe abuse he underwent during the weeks that he was interrogated,” the elder Ben-Uliel said. “We want to stress that we are opposed to violence and attacks on people.”

https://twitter.com/leizersh/status/683587307920879617/video/1

In July 2014, Rabbi Ben-Uliel was among a group of settler rabbis who signed a letter condemning the murder of Palestinian teenager Muhammed Abu Khdeir.

Jewish extremists indicted in the attack said they killed him as revenge for the slaying of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank by Hamas terrorists a month earlier.

The suspect’s wife, Oriane, also insisted on her husband’s innocence, claiming he was at home with her when the early-morning crime was committed and that he had been forced to confess to a crime he didn’t commit because of “murderous” physical abuse. He was tortured and “sexually harassed,” she said.

“They beat him murderously in front of my eyes; he didn’t do it,” she said, echoing claims by the suspects’ attorneys who have said their clients were tortured during interrogation to force a confession. “It is all lies,” she added.

Oriane Ben-Uliel said her husband was being hounded “because he wears a large skullcap,” and that the indictment against him was a case of “political persecution.”

Toddler Ali Saad Dawabsha was killed in the attack on his home. Parents Riham and Saad succumbed to their wounds in the hospital within weeks of the attack. Five-year-old Ahmed, Ali’s brother, was seriously wounded and remains hospitalized in Israel facing a long rehabilitation.

Ali’s grandfather, Hussein Dawabsha, said Sunday that he felt sure there were other culprits involved who have not been apprehended, the Hebrew-language Ynet news site reported.

“I don’t feel any relief or satisfaction,” he said. “It is true they made a start, but other people were also involved in this attack. Two people [alone] couldn’t have done such a big thing. It is impossible that only one person entered the village to do this thing. I am sure there are other people who are connected to this attack and they are still free.”

Ben-Uliel is charged with murder in the Duma attack, with the minor — who cannot be named under rules protecting the identity of underage accused — facing charges of accessory to the murder.

According to investigators, Ben-Uliel claimed he carried out the Duma firebombing to avenge the killing of Malachy Rosenfeld by a Palestinian terrorist in June.

The Israel Police on Sunday confirmed that the suspects not only confessed to the firebombing, among other “nationalistic” crimes, but reenacted the attack for investigators.

The Shin Bet security service has stridently rejected criticism of its methods in the case, saying in recent weeks that its interrogations were conducted with the full approval and oversight of the attorney general and High Court of Justice, as well as political leaders. The suspects faced “moderate physical pressure” legal in such terror investigations, the agency said, but were never subjected to the beatings, sexual assaults and other extreme measures alleged by Itamar Ben Gvir, a defense attorney for some of the suspects.

Three other suspected Jewish terrorists were charged Sunday over six other attacks against Arab persons or property. Twenty-three others were implicated in attacks and acts of vandalism against Palestinians and could be indicted in the future, the Shin Bet said.

In a statement, the Yesha Council, the settlers’ umbrella body, said it commended the Israeli justice system on the indictment of the Duma murder suspects. “It is now clear that these acts were perpetrated by a fringe group of anarchists bent on destroying the State of Israel and the freedom and justice that it represents,” the statement said. “The Yesha Council condemns these heinous acts of unadulterated murder and will continue to work together with the security forces to ensure a peaceful future for all the residents of Judea and Samaria.”

[ndnvideo id=”30195478″]

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.