The Kfar Saba Magistrate's Court decided not to convict a young man from Breslov Hasidism, even though he admitted that he entered the city of Nablus without a permit, despite Order from the Commander of Central Command prohibiting the entry of Israelis into the territories A Controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
The judge justified his decision and determined that it should be taken into account that the defendant "was young at the time of the commission of the offense, and clearly acted without discretion.".
Judge Michiel Kershan's ruling indicates that in February 2008, the defendant traveled with his friends and entered the Joseph's Tomb complex located in the city of Nablus.
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IDF soldiers arrived at the grave site and the defendant and his friends fled to a nearby building. The soldiers searched the building and captured the defendant and his friends. Five months ago, the defendant admitted to committing offenses of entering a closed area and obstructing a public servant.
The probation service's report submitted to the judge recommended that the defendant not be convicted. The report determined that the defendant is a young man with a normative value system who lacks criminal traits in his personality. The defendant is married and studying to teach at a kollel and in the future is also interested in serving as a judge.
In addition, his expression of regret for committing the act was noted.
Despite the positive report, the prosecutor's office representative requested that the defendant be convicted, because this is "a type of offense that endangers both the defendant and others like him." He added, "Not only did the defendant sin by entering the area and endangering himself and his friends and the soldiers who came to rescue him from the scene, in the circumstances of the incident there is a continuation of life-threatening conduct when the defendant and others fled into a building near the tomb compound and the soldiers were forced to search the building to locate the defendants.".
On the other hand, his defense attorney, Attorney Itamar Ben Gvir, sought to adopt the Probation Service's recommendation and avoid convicting the defendant.
The judge considered the parties' arguments and decided not to convict the defendant and to order him to perform 140 hours of community service.
