Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday sentenced an East Jerusalem woman to 15 years in prison for assisting in the "honor killing" of two of her daughters, and in the attempted murder of a third.

Sara Shakirat's son, 29-year-old Maher Shakirat, committed the two killings and was also carried out the attempted murder.

As part of a plea bargain, Shakirat admitted her role in the crimes, in return for escaping an 18-year prison sentence.

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Amani Shakirat, 20, and her pregnant 28-year-old sister Rudeina were found dead at their home in the village of Jabel Mukaber in May 2005.

Police couldn't say whether the women had swallowed acid, or had been strangled.

Their sister Leila, 24, was found in serious condition. Relatives said that she had swallowed acid in a suicide attempt.

The incident began when the parents suspected that Rudeina had damaged the family's honor by being unfaithful with her husband's uncle. Rudeina, who was in the ninth month of her pregnancy when she was killed, did not know who the father was. Maher Shakirat asked his parents' permission to kill all three sisters, on the grounds that the pther two were party to Rudeina's secret affair.

On May 2, the father sent most of the family members out of the house, and Maher asked Rudeina and Amani to drink the acid that he had bought, so that he would not have to kill them himself. The two women drank the acid, but did not die, after which Maher strangled them both with a cord.

At this time, Sara Shakirat was in the house, and backed up her son. She even called the third daughter, Leila, and invited her to the house so that Maher could kill her too.

When Leila arrived, Maher tried to strangle her and threw acid over her, but she survived and even acted as a witness for her mother during sentencing.

Sara Shakirat's attorney, Leah Tzemel, asked the court to reduce her sentence as she had acted in accordance with Arab tradition, which states that she is responsible for her daughters' moral behavior.

But judges Moshe Ravid, Orit Efal-Gabay and Aharon Farkash, rejected this request, saying rather that punishment in such cases should be more severe, "in order to thwart and eradicate such shocking acts that harm defenseless women on the grounds of desecration of family honor."