Acre rioters and murderers get one-fifth of legal time

News » Arab-Israeli conflict

Hotel "Effendi" was set on fire and completely burned down during nighttime riots during Operation Wall Guard. Another restaurant, owned by the same owners, was also vandalized, policemen were attacked, and much damage was done to the surrounding area. However, despite the provisions of the law, young people who confess to their deeds will receive a prison term that will end in a matter of years.

The Haifa District Court sentenced Fuad and Ahmed Madi, twenty-year-old residents of Akko, to five years and 45 months in prison who set fire to the Effendi Hotel about two years ago in the city and actively participated in the riots in the city during the operation “Guardian of the Walls”. This is the verdict for the last two of the eight accused in the case.

The events took place one night in May 2021, when, according to the indictment, the two took part in the riots in Acre. They threw stones at the police, set off firecrackers and caused extensive damage to property in the area. In addition to setting fire to the hotel, the accused Ahmed Madi also took part in the burning of the Uri Buri restaurant, owned by the same owners, chef Uri Yeremias. During the event, among other things, the rioters looted the property of the restaurant, stole 20,000 shekels – and then set it on fire.

The indictment states that the fire at the Effendi Hotel began after an unknown person in a mask smashed the glass door of the establishment with a stone, and then poured a combustible substance onto the floor. After he lit the fire, a fire broke out, and only then Fuad Madi and other unknown persons, whose identity has not yet been established, arrived at the scene – with Molotov cocktails. As they were thrown, the flames grew.

At the same time, there were 20 guests in the hotel, as well as an administrator who, after the arson, left their rooms and fled. Later, other defendants, including Ahmed Madi, arrived and started the pogrom, breaking furniture, smashing security cameras and looting property. After they left, the other defendants entered the premises and set it on fire, killing 84-year-old hotel resident Avi Har Ewan.

Har Ewan was an Israeli Ministry of Defense award winner, one of the top officials in the aerospace industry, and a director of the Israel Space Agency. No one has yet been held accountable for his death.

The defendants, 24-year-old Fuad Madi, who was also convicted of the terrorist attack, and 29-year-old Ahmed Madi, who also had a criminal record, confessed to the crime. In addition to the jail sentence, Judge Daniel Fish ruled that each of the defendants would pay the hotel owner NIS 20,000 in compensation. This is despite the fact that the damage caused to the hotel is estimated at more than two million shekels.

The punishments given to the defendants are lenient, given the crimes they committed, for which the maximum sentence is from 20 to 25 years. All other convicts in this case were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 33 to 48 months. “The Anti-Terrorism Act is intended to outline a stricter policy of punishing terrorist offences,” the Haifa district attorney's office commented on the verdict.

Each of the two defendants expressed remorse for their deeds and stated that these actions were typical for him. The defense lawyer for the defendants, lawyer Shadi Dabakh, stated before sentencing that “it was a momentary drift, not a planned act.” He also added that there may have been “a certain amount of anger at the socio-economic situation that led to the crimes.” However, he stressed, “this does not mean that such actions were legal.”

Follow us on Telegram