DNA Evidence Leads to Indictment in ‘Jewish Terror’ Case

Prosecutors on Thursday filed an indictment against the one individual still in custody in the so-called Jewish terror case, in which a 48-year-old Arab mother of nine was killed when Jewish youths allegedly stoned the vehicle she was riding in. The indictment against the youth, who is still a minor, is for manslaughter in the course of committing an act of terror.

According to the indictment, the youth picked up a stone weighing about two kilos (five pounds) and forcefully threw it at the vehicle in which Aisha a-Rabi was riding. The act was committed “with no concern for the possibility that someone could die as a result,” the indictment reads.

Prosecutors said that the main piece of evidence against the youth is DNA that matches his that was found on the rock that hit the vehicle. Legal observers told Yisrael Hayom that while DNA evidence was a fact, the prosecution would have to prove how the DNA got on the rock, as defense lawyers are likely to claim that it could have gotten there in any number of ways. The courts in general have been reluctant to convict suspects on the basis of DNA evidence alone, they said.

The Shin Bet security service originally arrested five youths, all students in a yeshivah in the Shomron town of Rechelim. Four of the youths were released to house arrest last week, after all were held for nearly two weeks and prevented from meeting with attorneys or family members.

According to the Shin Bet, the rock-throwing incident occurred on a Friday night, Oct. 10, 2018. The youths, who are students at Yeshivat Pri Ha’aretz in the Shomron town of Rechelim, are accused of leaving the yeshivah late Friday night and throwing stones at Arab vehicles. The stones struck a vehicle in which the woman was riding along with her husband. As a result of the attack, the vehicle skidded and overturned, injuring both seriously. The woman died of her wounds in the hospital.