Alex Akhtar, Judge of the Hadera Magistrate's Court, today (Thursday) sentenced Mahmoud Sheikh Khalil, a resident of Arara in Wadi Ara, to 10 months in prison, after he was convicted, based on his confession, of offenses of insulting religion and negligently causing a fire.
He was also sentenced to 6 months in prison, suspended for 3 years, and a fine of 10,000 shekels, or 45 days in prison in lieu thereof.
The incident occurred on December 8, 2023, at around 2:00 AM, on an avenue of shops on Derech Eretz Street in Harish.
According to the verdict, during a night out with a friend, the defendant noticed a bottle containing a small amount of flammable material. He picked up the container, smelled its contents to check if it was flammable, walked down the street and near one of the stores, poured the contents of the container on the floor and set it on fire using a lighter he had in his possession.
As a result of the defendant's actions, a fire broke out and started in the area, which was capable of endangering nearby shops and buildings. The fire was extinguished by itself and by the defendant and his friend's attempts to extinguish it.
Later, while the defendant and his friend continued walking on Derech Eretz Street in the city of Harish, he noticed a stand containing holy utensils such as: Torah scrolls and holy books, tallitot, sets for placing tefillin, and a charity box.
The defendant approached the 'tefillin stand' and ransacked it, touching and rummaging through the holy books and objects on the stand. Knowing that his actions might be seen as an insult to religion, the defendant tore pages from the holy books, took 3 charity boxes, kicked them with his feet, crushed them, and took out their contents - an unknown amount of money.
If that were not enough, then, in the wake of these circumstances, the defendant took the tefillin set that was there and tore the tefillin strips from the tefillin boxes and threw them on the floor.
While committing the acts, the defendant spoke to his friend, saying that these were objects belonging to Jews and even added that he hated Jews.
Judge Alex Akhtar ruled: "The defendant's actions are worthy of every reproach, both in relation to his conviction for committing the offense of negligently causing a fire, in light of the great potential for damage from this act, and in relation to his conviction for committing the offense of insulting religion, which is expressed in the vandalism of a tefillin stand that was placed near one of the stores on site, especially when the circumstances of the offense show that the defendant acted not only knowingly but also as someone who harbored hatred towards Jews, so that he not only vandalized the stand but at the same time also expressed his disgust and hatred towards Jews.".
The judge added: "The court's role, among other things, is to determine and define the appropriate boundaries for protecting religious feelings, freedom of religion and worship in the private sphere and certainly in the public sphere, so that every citizen and resident can maintain their religious lifestyle without interference and certainly without harming religious values, religious feelings and sacred objects, which have often been harmed, trampled and vandalized in the riots known in the history of the Jewish people, starting with the burning of the Talmud in the Middle Ages and ending with Kristallnacht, which began with the desecration of the Holy Books and sacred objects, and more than once also led to harm to human life.".
In addition, the judge considered the defendant's confession, his young age, and the fact that he had no previous convictions and a punishment range of 8 to 18 months in prison, and sentenced him to 10 months in prison.
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