A Tel Aviv man was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday for killing his 2-month old daughter in 2004.

The three judges of Tel Aviv District Court ruled on the maximum sentence for Levy Lalik, despite the fact that the conviction for manslaughter was made in the framework of a plea bargain.

According to the indictment, on December 23, 2004, Lalik - a 29-year-old immigrant from the former Soviet Union - was left home alone with the infant for several hours.

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During that time, Lalik allegedly drank to the point of intoxication. When the baby began to cry he pinched her, he applied pressure to various parts of her body, crushed her head and forcibly twisted her legs.

As a result, the baby suffered several injuries and died of her wounds.

Lalik was initially charged with murder. At first he tried to claim that the death was the result of an accident, saying he fell on the infant.

Later, he changed his plea to manslaughter, but judges rejected his testimony on two occasions.

In the first instance, Lalik pleaded insanity, and in the second, that the baby's death was the result of an accident.

Last September, Lalik confessed to manslaughter. The judges accepted the plea and issued a conviction.

The state asked for the maximum penalty, although defense attorney Yaakov Shklar asked to consider the fact that Lalik was intoxicated at the time of the incident and was experiencing difficulty integrating into Israeli society. He also noted that Lalik has no prior criminal record, and emphasized that he confessed to his own actions.

The judges rejected the attorney's claims, saying they were dwarfed by Lalik's deeds.

"The abusive actions of the accused towards the infant came in response to her crying and they became worse over time. The killing was not carried out in one thrust. Who knows and who can imagine the terrible physical and emotional suffering the infant underwent until her death. Instead of extending help and trying to save her, the accused expressed no remorse and abused her body, even though he knew she was dead," their statement said.

"The incident before us belongs to those serious incidents which justify and demand the issue of maximum punishment," it said.