The Palestinian man that killed Israel Defense Forces’ Staff Sgt. Ronen Lubarsky during an arrest raid near Ramallah last year was sentenced on Monday to life in prison, plus eight months.
Islam Yusuf Hamid, 33, also known as Islam Naji, dropped a marble slab on Lubarsky from a rooftop in the al-Am’ari refugee camp on the outskirts of Ramallah on May 24, 2018. Lubarsky’s army unit captured Hamid a month later.
Members of Lubarsky’s family, who were disappointed that Hamid had not received the death penalty, shouted “Shame!” as the verdict was handed down.
The verdict is “a shame and an embarrassment for the Israeli justice system,” said Ronen’s father, Vladimir Lubarsky. “Today, we received further proof that it is very worthwhile to murder Israelis. I am infuriated.”
Ronen’s brother, Arik, said, “The State of Israel has for many years already been dealing with the cycle of bloodshed and with families of murderers who already have five or six siblings in jail. We’ve seen that life sentences do not deter them, but the issue of money does deter them. So the State of Israel needs to change its approach to terror and understand how terror works.”
Vladimir wrote a letter to the judges last year, asking them to give Hamid the death penalty.
Lubarsky’s family had also asked the court for NIS 5 million ($1,415,200) in compensation—the amount the Palestinian Authority is expected to pay Hamid for Lubarsky’s murder over the course of his incarceration.
However, the judge set the compensation at NIS 258,000 ($72,929).
The Lubarsky family lawyer said their request was meant “to prevent [Hamid] from receiving his stipend from the Palestinian Authority,” and that the judge’s decision “is disrespectful to us.”