West Bank Settler Sentenced to 13 Years for Terrorist Killing of Palestinian Woman

A district court in central Israel has sentenced a resident of the Benjamin region to 13 years in prison for the killing of Aisha Rabi, a Palestinian woman, in a 2018 rock-throwing attack. The court also ordered the defendant to pay NIS 258,000 (approximately $70,000 USD) in compensation to Rabi's family. Rabi was killed when a 2-kilogram rock, thrown by the then 16-year-old defendant, penetrated her car's windshield and struck her in the head. According to the indictment, the defendant and others went to a vantage point overlooking Route 60 with the intent to identify and harm Arab drivers. Upon identifying Rabi's car as having a Palestinian license plate, he threw the rock.

Rabi was traveling with her husband and young daughter at the time of the attack. The prosecution sought a lengthy prison sentence, emphasizing the severity of the act despite the defendant being a minor at the time. The court convicted him of murder under circumstances of a terror act, throwing a stone at a vehicle, and malicious damage to a vehicle, all under terror circumstances.

The Central District Prosecutor's Office stated that the verdict sends a clear message regarding the gravity of the defendant's actions and the tragic outcome, emphasizing that the attack was motivated by nationalism and targeted a Palestinian woman traveling with her family.