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Child-killing terrorist up for parole after less than a decade in Israeli prison

Terrorist who hurled rocks at Jewish family’s vehicle, leaving a 2-year-old with severe injuries that led to her eventual death, may regain his freedom.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

An Israeli mother whose two-year-old daughter died two years after being critically wounded in a terrorist attack is speaking out as one of the terrorists responsible for her child’s death is set to appear before a parole board and may receive a shortened sentence.

The terrorist, identified only by the initial M because he was a minor at the time of the attack, has served fewer than 10 years in prison for hurling rocks at the Biton family’s car as they drove near Ariel in 2013.

One rock directly struck two-year-old Adele Biton in the head, leaving her with severe neurological damage.

The remainder of Biton’s short life was marked by prolonged stays in the hospital, and she eventually passed away at the age of four, two years after the attack.

Others in the family were also injured, as the bombardment of rocks caused them to lose control of their car and led them into a head-on collision with a truck.

M was arrested along with four other men and was eventually convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison. According to Israel Hayom, because Biton wasn’t killed at the time of the attack, prosecutors were unable to charge him with murder.

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He has been incarcerated in northern Israel’s Megiddo Prison since 2016 and may see his sentence shortened due to good behavior.

Adva Biton was outraged when she received a text message on Monday that her child’s murderer has a parole hearing set for next week.

“This is an outrageous way to receive such a notification. I would expect that in such a sensitive and painful situation, when you are talking about bereaved parents who are receiving life-changing information, that there would be a more understanding and sensitive way to do it,” Biton told Israel Hayom.

She called the possibility of M’s sentence being reduced “outrageous and infuriating,” adding a warning that M’s relatively young age means that he still poses a major security risk.

“These are people who are now in their 20s – we are letting out people who will return to terror. They will go back to their village as heroes, with a smile on their faces,” she said.

“This is a loss of deterrence, certainly in the height of a silenced wave of terror. I intend to appear at the Release Committee in order to look its members in the eyes – that they should take responsibility.”