Eliraz Fein
Photo: Gil Yochanan
Settler sentenced to community service for incitement against IDF soldiers, Arabs
Otniel settler Eliraz Fein sentenced to five months of community service over plea bargain conviction of incitement against security forces, Arabs; Fein, also handed a suspended sentence, protested injustice of verdict: 'State Attorney's Office exerted ridiculous amount of effort to convict me.'
The Petah Tikva Magistrates' Court sentenced Eliraz Fein of Otniel to five months in prison to be served in community service and a ten-month suspended sentence, with an NIS 2,000 fine.
The settler, charged in 2016 with publishing incitement against Arabs and security forces, was convicted earlier this year in a plea bargain.
In its verdict, the court determined, "The charges Fein confessed to delineate a series of blunt, inciting publications against security forces and any and all Arabs. It's difficult not shuddering reading the things an Israeli citizen wrote about IDF soldiers."
Eliraz Fein at court, May 2014 (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Fein held a contrary view, and was incensed with the verdict. "The court has lost all proportions, both as it pertains to this case and in general. When Arabs incite against Jews and security forces they don't even get picked up. The State Attorney's Office has exerted a ridiculous amount of effort in convicting me," she said.
"I love soldiers. The court has shown no justice," Fein protested.
'Even if the stone leads to the death of a soldier'
The indictment—filed last August—showed that following the evacuation and demolition of illegal structures in Yitzhar in 2014, a group of Google activists called Yitzharniks held an online discussion about the legitimacy of violent acts such as throwing stones at security forces.
Among other things, Fein wrote: "I am in favor of throwing stones (at Jews, and of course, there's no question with regard to Arabs) in certain situations, even if the stone leads to the death of a soldier!!! I would back up stone throwers in the face of any external entity, even in cases when it was unnecessary." A few hours after Fein announced that she supported the throwing of stones at soldiers, stones were thrown at the police's special Yasam forces in the settlement.
Fein called to commit violence against Arabs in the wake of the murder of Eyal Yifrah, Gil-Ad Shaer and Naftali Frenkel (צילום: שאול גולן)
According to the indictment, Fein posted the abovementioned statements after already having been questioned under caution and even arrested for a previous posting. In response to the abduction and murder of Abu Khdeir in July 2014, Fein posted directly and consistently on the accounts of her 800 Facebook friends: "I am proud to discover that there are Jews who could not stand idly by! I pray those arrested (whom I don't even know) find strength and courage."
The settler rejoiced at the burning of the Church of Loaves and Fishes (Photo: Avihu Shapira)
In June 2015, after the arson incident at the Church of the Multiplication near the Sea of Galilee, the defendant wrote: "Good morning! This time it was a church. Being considerate of Muslim feelings, Ramadan Kareem to you too." Fein later wrote in response that, "The act itself is a mitzvah," along with many other reactions.
Following the arson of the Dawabsha family's house in the village of Duma, Fein posted in August 2015 on Facebook: "To terrify them and make them understand that Jewish blood is not forfeit. For murder, the enemy will bathe in his own blood… I believe damaging Arab property is appropriate and dignified."
