Family of Fallen IDF Soldier Ronen Lubarsky, Hy”d, Demand Death Penalty for Terrorist

YERUSHALAYIM
Family and friends attend the funeral of IDF soldier Ronen Lubarsky, Hy”d, in May. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The family of fallen IDF Ronen Lubarsky, Hy”d, who was killed in a terror attack in Ramallah in June, is requesting that the court impose the death penalty on the killer of their son. In a letter to Cabinet members, the family said that the murder of Lubarsky was a good example of the consequences of failing to impose the death penalty on terrorists.

Lubarsky was murdered while on a mission near Ramallah by Islam Yussuf abu-Hamid, a resident of the El-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah. Abu-Hamid admitted under interrogation that it was he who threw a block of marble on the head of Lubarsky as he and other soldiers of the Duvdevan unit who were carrying out arrests in the camp. It also emerged that his brothers and several older members of his family are members of Hamas, and that he has aided them in various acts of terror, including the 1994 murder of Shin Bet agent Noam Cohen, Hy”d. Hamid, whose trial opens Wednesday, said that he killed the soldier in protest over the imprisonment of his brothers.

“As you may recall, the five brothers of the murderer of Ronen, Hy”d, themselves carried out terror attacks, killing between them nine people,” the letter read.” Four of the brothers were sentenced to consecutive life in prison terms, and the fifth was killed as soldiers attempted to arrest him. It is possible that if the death penalty had been imposed on the brothers, Ronen would not have been killed,” as his murderer might have withheld himself from murdering the soldier, in light of the consequences.

“Only the death penalty guarantees that terrorists will not return to the cycle of terror. Only the death penalty ensures that brothers will not try to free their terrorist brothers through murdering or kidnapping soldiers or civilians, or other terror attacks. Only the death penalty guarantees that terrorists will not enjoy opulent lifestyles in prison that we have to pay for. Only the death penalty for terrorists will save lives,” the letter adds.

Lubarsky, 20, was a soldier in the elite Duvdevan unit, which regularly enters Palestinian Authority-controlled areas to arrest terrorists; in 2017, the unit arrested over 300 terrorists. He was a resident of Rehovot, and “an honor student, one of the city’s finest youths, modest and with wonderful values,” said Rachamim Malul, Mayor of Rehovot. “We feel the pain and embrace the family at their time of pain.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu expressed his sorrow and condolences, saying that “security forces will find the terrorist that did this and bring him to justice.” President Reuven Rivlin said Lubarsky was “among our finest youths who go out every night on missions that allow the rest of us to live our daily lives in a secure manner.”

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