Two Young Jewish Suspects Indicted on Charges of Committing Duma Arson Attack

January 3, 2016

3 min read

Israel’s State Attorney filed indictments against two Jewish men suspected of committing the July, 2015 arson attack in the village of Duma, which had killed three members of the Dawabsheh family.

The indictments were filed Sunday morning, January 3 at the Lod District Court, which also decided to lift the gag order that had previously prohibited the publication of any details about the case or the investigation.

The primary suspects in the deadly attack are 21-year-old Amiram Ben Oliel from Jerusalem and a 17-year-old minor from Samaria. They were indicted for being members of a terrorist organization with the goal of spreading fear and terror among non-Jews and escalating the security situation for nationalist and religious reasons.

Ben Oliel was indicted on three counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and two counts of arson and conspiring to commit a racially-motivated crime. The minor, whose name was not cleared for publication, was indicted on charges of having assisted Ben Oliel and of having committed other attacks against non-Jews, including an arson attack on Dormition Abbey.

According to the indictment, the two men decided to kill Arabs in order to avenge the June, 2015 murder of Malachi Rosenfeld by Palestinians. They had prepared two firebombs to accomplish this. On July 30, 2015, Ben Oliel dressed in dark clothes and decided to commit the attack by himself after the minor did not join him.

The indictment states that Ben Oliel entered the village of Duma after masking his face with his shirt and wearing gloves. He looked for houses with indications of being inhabited. He sprayed “revenge” on an empty house and threw a firebomb through its window.

The indictment continues with the charge that Ben Oliel then arrived outside the Dawabsheh family home and opened their bedroom window where all four family members were sleeping. He threw the firebomb with the intention of killing them and fled the scene. The Dawabsheh family members were all set on fire and three of them, 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and his parents Saad and Riham, were subsequently killed.

The defendants’ attorney, Itamar Ben Gvir, contended that his clients are innocent. “My clients confessed only due to torture and abuse employed during the Shin Bet interrogations. According to the law, their confessions are inadmissible in court since they were given through coercion and not through free will.”

“The confession details are the exact wording dictated to them by the Shin Bet interrogators,” argued Ben Gvir. “If the Shin Bet claims there was no torture, it should release all the videos of the interrogations.”

Funeral of Sa'ad Dawabsha, second victim of the July 31 firebombing attack on a Palestinian village. (Flash90)
Funeral of Sa’ad Dawabsha, second victim of the July 31 firebombing attack on a Palestinian village. (Flash90)

Ben Oliel’s parents, Reuven and Nurit, also said they believed their son was innocent. “We’re shocked and horrified at the charges against our beloved son,” they said in a statement. “We believe the court will find him innocent and that the severe abuse he suffered during the weeks of his interrogation will be revealed to the court.”

“We would like to add that we oppose violence against other human beings,” added the parents who live in Avnei Hefetz in Samaria.

Oriyan Ben Oliel, the suspect’s wife, said: “My husband suffered serious abuse and was forced to confess actions he did not commit. He was beaten up before my own eyes. He didn’t do anything; this is political persecution.”

Two other young men, 20-year-old Yinon Reuveni from Ofakim and a 17-year-old minor, were also indicted on charges of being members of a terrorist organization. They are suspected of committing other “price tag” attacks against Arabs, intended to avenge terrorist attacks by Palestinians against Israelis.

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