The prosecutor’s office filed an indictment on Sunday against Noach Yohanan, a 59-year-old resident of Moshav Segola, who set fire to the encampment belonging to the families of the hostages located in Kiryat Yamanat in Jerusalem.
According to the charge, Yohanan supported Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposed the establishment of the encampment and the signs concerning the hostages and those opposed to government policy, and decided to set it on fire “with the aim of exterminating it in order to convince its supporters to change their ways”.
The indictment charges the accused with crimes of aggravated arson and malicious damage, but not more serious crimes such as attempted murder. The prosecutor’s office did request that the court to detain Yohanan until the end of the legal proceedings against him.
Reason for the crime
The accused arrived at the encampment equipped with lighters and a backpack and broke one of the lighters to use its combustible material and make a bigger fire. He then lit a fire using another lighter in the corner of the encampment adjacent to the sleeping area, which caused the tent to catch fire. The accused left without calling the rescue forces.
Part of the shell of the encampment burned and some of the volunteers who were there suffered from sore throats for several days as a result of inhaling the smoke.
Last week Yochanan underwent a psychiatric examination and was found fit to stand trial. At the hearing for the extension of his detention held last week, he expressed regret for his actions, stating: “It’s nonsense that I did and I don’t know what made me do it. Even when the tent lit up, I quickly turned it off.”
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