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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