Two Israeli Arabs
and a Jew were convicted of assisting in a Palestinian suicide
bombing. The Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday handed down manslaughter verdicts
against the three after they admitted to helping an Islamic Jihad terrorist
reach Netanya from the West Bank in July 2005. The man blew himself up in the coastal
Israeli town, killing five.
The defendants said they thought the bomber
was a burglar, though at least one of them tried to check what was in the man’s bag.
The verdicts set a precedent in Israel, where such cases usually
draw lighter charges of complicity in murder or negligent homicide. The three could be imprisoned for up to 20 years. There was no immediate
date set for sentencing.
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