The Judea Military Court will consider multiple life sentences for the convicted murderer of well-known American-Israeli activist Ari Fuld on Thursday.
Fuld, 45, was stabbed in the upper back on September 16, 2018 outside the Gush Etzion shopping center by then 17-year-old Jabarin of Yatta, a village located south of Hebron.
“Every murder has two victims,” said Ari’s widow, Miriam Fuld in the lead up to the trial, “the victim and the family left in its wake. “Ari was a hero in his life, loved his fellow man, loved the Land of Israel, loved the State of Israel,” she continued. “And he protected them– whether serving in active military service still at the age of 45 or in educating the younger generation or teaching self-defence or posting articles and videos in social media.”
She said that even in the last moments of his life he chased his killer with a fatal wound in his back to make sure the terrorist did not hurt anyone else. “it is in the ability of this court to show that Jewish blood – any person’s life at all – is precious. That any murderer will pay dearly for his actions…to deter such acts in the future,” she went on. “Ari is not here to defend himself… It is your duty to convey a deterrent message, one that will be heard and feared by any future potential terrorist.” She admitted that nothing would bring her husband back and that no punishment would comfort Ari’s parents, siblings or children. “Nothing will comfort me who lost the love of my life, my soul mate, my life companion,” she said. “I have lost the only person who can comfort me, my partner, my best friend.”
Miriam concluded, “But multiple life sentences and a punishment that will prevent the murderer from enjoying the blood money that the Palestinian Authority has paid – just for killing Ari – will bring a shred of justice to such a cruel reality. Murder is the most serious crime and we expect the most severe punishment.” The family’s lawyer, Maurice Hirsch, said that there is no doubt that Ari’s murdered should receive multiple life sentences – “one for the life that he took and another for the lives of the others he intended to murder. The big question is if the court will cower before terrorism and allow Ari’s murderer to enjoy the fat salaries he is paid by the Palestinian Authority or will it send a powerful message and award all of those payments, and more, to Ari’s family.”
Following the quick indictment of Jabarin in October 2018, the case was delayed for six months by two other major issues.
Initially, Jabarin’s lawyer was Tarek Barghut – until recently one of the more well-known lawyers for Palestinians in the IDF’s West Bank Courts.
However, Barghut was then surprisingly arrested by the IDF for what turned out to shockingly be full-fledged participation in terrorism and an array of shooting charges.
When Barghut was first arrested, his wife was also arrested, and the community of lawyers for Palestinians viewed the arrests as crossing a red-line.
They went on strike and the entire IDF West Bank Courts system came to standstill.
Even once Barghut’s wife was released and Barghut himself started tocooperate with his interrogators, it took time for Jabarin’s new lawyer, Khaled Alaraj, to get up to speed on the case.
The trial did not open until May 2019 and did not move forward at a serious pace until the summer 2019. The entire trial was behind closed doors since the murder was a minor when Fuld was killed.
By October 2019, both sides had presented closing arguments and it appeared that Jabarin was not seriously contesting the charge of murdering Fuld as much as he was contesting additional terrorism charges from other incidents.
Prior to attacking Fuld with a 21-centimeter knife, Jabarin had scoped out the Ziv junction, Maarat Hamachpela (the Cave of the Patriarchs) near Hebron and a checkpoint near Beit Lehem as possible venues for his attack before settling on the Rami Levi.
Jabarin declined to attack at the Ziv junction because he could not find an IDF soldier, at the cave because it was closed and at the Beit Lehem checkpoint as he was worried that nearby Palestinians might get caught up in his assault.
However, when he saw Fuld, he noticed that Fuld had his back to him and was distracted on a cell phone and decided to attack.
Mortally wounded, Fuld chased his Palestinian attacker, jumped over a short stone wall and shot and wounded him before he himself collapsed.
Fuld was evacuated to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center where he succumbed to his wounds.
Jabarin, who was shot by Fuld and another armed civilian, was evacuated in moderate condition and fully conscious to Hadassah University Medical Center in Ein Kerem.
Born in New York, Fuld, 45, immigrated to Israel in 1994.
The dual US-Israeli citizen lived in Efrat with his wife Miriam, and was the father of Tamar, 22, Naomi, 21, Yakir, 17, and Natan 12.
He was a well-known activist and was among the most prominent American-Israeli Jews killed by terrorists in recent years.
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