Israeli prosecutors today, Wednesday, charged two Jewish settlers with terrorism-related offenses; one was accused of vandalizing a mosque, and the other of setting fire to a house during attacks against Palestinians last month, which prompted the United States to call for accountability for the perpetrators of the attacks.
The indictment stated that one defendant, in his early thirties, was among a "large number of rioters" who threw objects at buildings in the village of Aourif, smashed furniture and windows in its mosque, tore several copies of the Quran, and threw them on the ground. It indicated that their aim was to "spread fear or shock in the community by delivering a devastating blow to sacred sites," adding that authorities were unable to identify the others who participated.
The second defendant, a 22-year-old off-duty soldier, was charged with joining a group of rioters in storming a home in the village of Umm Safa while a mother and her four children were inside, forcing her to hide the children in a closet. The law firm representing the defendant, Honenu, stated that he denied the charges against him in court, which included unruly conduct resulting in damage, causing specific harm, and insulting religion, all of which were described as "terrorist acts."
Under Israeli law, this classification allows the court to double the penalty for any of the charges for which the defendant is convicted. Without this classification, the maximum penalties for the charges typically range from three to ten years in prison.
The indictment provided to Reuters did not specify the nature of the evidence to be presented against the accused and appeared to omit the names of three prosecution witnesses. A spokesperson for Honenu accused the Israeli Shin Bet security service of arresting the defendant unjustly. When asked if this meant the defendant also denied being in Aourif during the attack, the spokesperson declined to comment.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry described the settlers' attacks as "state-sponsored terrorism." The right-wing Israeli government includes ministers who are outraged by the application of the term terrorism to settlers.
