Palestinian who beat to death Jewish farmer sentenced to 18 years

A Palestinian who, along with his cousin, beat to death David Bar Kafra, a Jewish farmer, was sentenced to 18 years.

By: World Israel News Staff

Lod’s District Court sentenced Alaa Atzi,  a 25-year-old Palestinian from Beit Liqya, to 18 years in prison on Sunday for the manslaughter of farmer David Bar Kafra in 2015.

In addition to the prison sentence, Atzi was also obligated to pay Bar Kafra’s widow NIS 180,000.

Mujahed Atzi, the cousin of the convict, was also found guilty of murder but awaits sentencing for his crimes, Ynet reported.

Bar Kafra’s daughter Talia expressed her disappointment after the sentence was given.

“We thought that after three years of ups and downs we would have some sort of comfort. It seems we were proven wrong.”

After the court had given Alaa an 18-year sentence she said, “We have mixed feelings. On the one hand, the sentence that was given is almost the maximum for manslaughter. On the other hand, the feeling is very bad. Our father was murdered,” Ynet reported.

“He (Alaa) has already been placed under arrest for three years. Those years will be deducted from his overall sentence, and after 10 years at the most he will be released ,” she elaborated

“The terrorist killed our father only because he was Jewish, and we consider him a murderer,” Bar Kafra’s daughter concluded.

Mujahed Atzi worked at Bar Kafra’s vineyard in Moshav Pedaya in central Israel for three weeks. He was forced to resign, however, as he had no permit to stay or work in Israel.

Mujahed and his cousin Alaa thought that Bar Kafra still owed Mujahed money for back salaries that were not paid to him. The two cousins came to the realization that the best course of action would be to return to the vineyard and extract the money from Bar Kafra.

On June 23, 2015, the two cousins infiltrated Israel without permits and traveled to the vineyard to confront Bar Kafra. The slept in an adjacent field and in the morning spied on Bar Kafra, waiting for a propitious time to confront him.

When they thought the time had come, the two approached Bar Kafra who ascertained their intention and cried out “thieves.” An elderly man, Bar Kafra was overpowered by the two cousins who gagged Bar Kafra and beat him.

The two cousins continued to beat Bar Kafra after he fell to the ground. They also poured pesticide on the elderly man.

Bar Kafra was later pronounced dead. The two cousins were tracked down and arrested.

Alaa Atzi was given the maximum sentence for manslaughter.

Illegal workersMoshav PedayaPalestinian violence