Israeli Man Convicted of Inciting Terrorism Gets Community Service
A 74-year-old man from Umm al-Fahm, Raja Agbaria, a leader of the "Bnei al-Kfar" movement, has been sentenced to nine months of community service for inciting terrorism and expressing solidarity with terror organizations. Agbaria was convicted of seven counts of incitement to terrorism and four counts of identifying with a terror organization, stemming from ten Facebook posts made between 2017 and 2018. He also received a six-month suspended sentence and a 10,000 shekel fine.
The case was investigated by the Shin Bet in cooperation with local police. The indictment was filed in September 2018. Despite the severity of the charges, Judge Za'id Falach opted for a lenient sentence, citing the eight years that have passed since the indictment and Agbaria's serious medical condition, including cancer. The judge acknowledged that Agbaria's words could "inflame passions, legitimize terrorism, and even create an ideological basis upon which further violence could sprout," but ultimately decided to reduce the sentence.
During his interrogation, Agbaria maintained that he never broke the law and that his writings were his personal opinions and analyses. He stated, "My goal is not to break the law, but I will continue to write and no one will silence me." He argued that the line between free speech and incitement is thin and that he has never crossed it, nor has he ever called for violence. He described the case as political persecution aimed at silencing his freedom of expression.
Among the posts for which Agbaria was convicted were praises for three terrorists who murdered police officers in 2017, referring to them as "martyrs" and wishing them "eternal paradise." He also posted content related to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, identified as a terror organization in Israel, including its anthem and praise for its leaders. Other posts lauded Hezbollah and discussed the possibility of its operatives reaching the Galilee in a future war, and one post concerned a Hamas operative involved in a fatal shooting.
Agbaria, a former teacher and educator, had no prior criminal convictions. The prosecution had sought a prison sentence of 16 to 40 months, while his defense attorneys requested community service. The Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights, which represented Agbaria, called the prosecution a "severe criminal persecution of Palestinian political discourse and freedom of expression for Palestinians in Israel."
