Eritrean man was lynched by Israelis in uniform, new video shows
While Israelis are rarely, if ever, held accountable for violence against Palestinians and African refugees, every so often there comes a killing so shameful and embarrassing to the Israel’s image that some face-saving action is called for.
The graphically documented lynching of Zarhum appears to be one of those cases.
Even so, only four of the nine Israelis caught on video beating Zarhum have been indicted, on charges of aggravated assault, which carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
The shooters who fired the bullets responsible for killing Zarhum have not been charged.
David Moyal, a restaurant worker in the bus station, was charged with throwing a bench at Zarhum. Yaakov Shamba, an Israeli soldier, was indicted for kicking Zarhum in the torso while he lay on the floor pinned under a bench. And Eviatar Damari, described only as “a young man from Netivot,” is being prosecuted for kicking Zarhum in the head multiple times.
Ronen Cohen and Chen Shabat, both prison officers, repeatedly tossed a metal bench at Zarhum. Cohen also allegedly kicked Zarhum in the head and assaulted a bystander who tried to stop the mob violence.
Cohen was indicted with the others, while Shabat managed to convince the state prosecutor that he threw the bench at Zarhum to protect him from the mob. He may even keep his job with theIsrael Prison Service.
“The state prosecutor accepted this claim, noting that Shabat did not go on to kick Zarhum in the head as Cohen did,” reported Haaretz.The bar doesn’t get any lower than that.
