Border Police officer sentenced to jail for ordering Hebron robberies
The Court said that the officer and another policeman humiliated Palestinians for no apparent reason.
By Jonathan Lis Tags: Hebron Israel Border PoliceJerusalem District Court sentenced a Border Police officer to 20 months in prison Monday for ordering several armed robberies of Palestinian shops in Hebron four years ago.
David Sehayek was convicted after confessing to robbery and abuse of power. His subordinate, Ofir Eden, was also found guilty and sent to nine months in custody. The court also ordered the two to pay their victims NIS 3000.
In the ruling, the court said that the shop owners fell victim to the humiliating behavior of the defendants, who robbed their shops and aggressed them for no apparent reason.
"Instead of enforcing public order in Hebron, the two entered Palestinian shops, stole their property while threatening their owners and shared the loot with their fellow policemen," the court ruling said.
Based on the ruling, it appears that Sehayek went beyond simple robbery. On various occasions he threatened the complainants and once even hit one shop owner on the head. It also appears that while being in charge of a police patrol Sehayek abused his power to carry out more robberies. "Not only did he steal money from innocent citizens, he also humiliated and demeaned them for no apparent reason," the ruling said.
The defendants pled guilty and showed remorse. Sehayek's attorney told the court that "these deeds were carried out by despaired and frustrated policemen, whose friends had been killed in a bombing in Hebron."
The prosecutor, Attorney Moshe Saada of the Police Investigations Department, later said that "the court accepted the charges and we are very pleased. We hope this verdict will send a message to all security forces, and events such as these will never happen again."
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Millie, Does it excuse the behaviour of this policeman?
I'm glad to see that Israel has done the right thing!
"... he demeaned and hunmiliated them for no apparent reason...". And if there had been an "apparent reason" - then it would have been OK to rob and assault ? Is this how the police are trained? David
There's a flourishing trade in cars stolen from Israel among the Palestinians. Taxis are specially valuable, especially if they are Mercedes Benzes, these go to the big bosses. The difference is that Israeli police are expected to obey the law and not to be thieves while the Pal police are thieves themselves
Israeli politicians mention Israel's criminal treatment of the Palestinian people, before begging the international community to support Israel's starvation policy against the Palestinians! How about a bit of honesty instead of the constant two-faced victim mode rhetoric?
The article interestingly omits the motivation behind these abuses in power - pure hatred for Palestinians. Obviously, the Israeli people have serious psychological issues regarding identity and self-respect.
Well done Israel. Starting to behave like an international citizen rather than a racist state. Now for the real work. Prosecutions of the people who are the real criminals. - Snipers shooting children in the head - Officers ordering the dropping of a one ton bomb in a residential neighborhood - Officers who ordered the dropping over cluster munitions over Lebanon which still kill innocent civilians The list is endless but it is good that you have made a start. Yes, I agree. Abbas needs to catch and prosecute Palestinian terrorists who attack civilians by firing Kassams over the border, etc. But in this blog, I am approving on Israeli actions and reccommending more of the same.
Ex IDF soldiers also were traumatised by the abandonment of moral behviour in H2 Old Hebron: "?Whatever I used to call democracy here in Israel, would simply vanish in Hebron. You give a young soldier so much power that the horrible things he does become the normal things after a time. But the source of all the evil in that city is the power of the settlers over us, the Magav (Israeli Border Guards) and the Police. I lost all sense of moral values and decency - I just lost all sense of all the limits I grew up with ? what my family had taught me to believe in ? all of this was destroyed in me by Hebron? ?In Hebron the fanatical Jews I was guarding didn?t behave with the same morality or values I was raised on. I reached a point in Hebron where I didn?t know who the enemy was any more ? the fanatical Jew settlers who were going crazy, attacking the local Arabs, or the Arabs we were told would always attack, but never did. If the Jews are capable of writing on the Arab?s house doors ?Arabs to the gas chambers? and drawing a Star of David, which to me is like a swastika when they draw it like that, then somehow the term ?Jew? has changed for me.?