13 feb 2019
Valeri Sakowitz and Vardit Bakraknot
After two and a half decades and three suspects, police finally name the man they believe raped and killed 27-year-old Vardit Bakraknot, whose body was found in a forest near Beit Shemesh in 1993.
Israel Police on Wednesday said they have arrested the man they believe was behind the brutal attack on 27-year-old Vardit Bakraknot, whose body was found names in the woods near the city of Beit Shemesh in 1993.
Police last week arrested 64-year-old Valeri Sakowitz for the rape and murder of the young woman after DNA from the suspect matched biological evidence found at the scene 25 years ago.
Sakowitz was arrested a week and a half ago. The Jerusalem District Court extended his remand for ten more days, after he placed himself at the murder scene.
A combination of police findings and technological developments have faciliated a breakthrough in this case," said Judge David Gabbay Richter. "As a such, it can be said that there is a high level of reasonable suspicion" against Sakowitz.
Sakowitz was born in Belarus when it was still part of the Soviet Union and arrived in Israel in 1990. He lived in Israel until 1994, when he returned to his native country. He went back to Israel a year later, but departed once again, to finally return in 2018.
The suspect, a divorced father of two, initially said he was alone in Israel but later changed his story. He was then arrested and placed in solitary confinement. He testified to being at the murder scene while he was on his way to visit his girlfriend, but denied all other allegations.
Bakraknot, a resident of Kibbutz Kiryat Anavim, located a few kilometers west of Jerusalem, was a photography student. She went missing in November 1993 and her body was found two days later in the Eshtaol Forest bearing signs of violence and rape. She was last seen getting into a Subaru Legacy sedan as she hitchhiked in Tel Aviv, and it is believed the man who drove the car is the one who killed her.
Two men were arrested and released after the murder, including an IAF reservist pilot who was cleared by a polygraph test. The other suspect was a salesman who served in the IDF with Bakraknot.
A third man, a serial sex offender, was also arrested and released three months after the event. Two years later, the victim's parents claimed two men were behind the murder and not one, but the mystery remained unsolved.
Other kibbutz members said the victim's father continued to search for the man who killed his daughter until the day he died in 2010.
"I don’t know if I should be happy," Vardit's mother Ra'aya Bakraknot told Ynet last week. "Many theories ended up in nothing over the years and I've often been disappointed. I can't be happy. I hope this time it's him."
This new development comes less than a week after another young woman, Ori Ansbacher, was raped and murdered in the Jerusalem area. The suspect Arafat Irfayia, a 29-year-old resident of Hebron in the West Bank was arrested by the IDF on Saturday and is believed to be affiliated with the Hamas terror group.
After two and a half decades and three suspects, police finally name the man they believe raped and killed 27-year-old Vardit Bakraknot, whose body was found in a forest near Beit Shemesh in 1993.
Israel Police on Wednesday said they have arrested the man they believe was behind the brutal attack on 27-year-old Vardit Bakraknot, whose body was found names in the woods near the city of Beit Shemesh in 1993.
Police last week arrested 64-year-old Valeri Sakowitz for the rape and murder of the young woman after DNA from the suspect matched biological evidence found at the scene 25 years ago.
Sakowitz was arrested a week and a half ago. The Jerusalem District Court extended his remand for ten more days, after he placed himself at the murder scene.
A combination of police findings and technological developments have faciliated a breakthrough in this case," said Judge David Gabbay Richter. "As a such, it can be said that there is a high level of reasonable suspicion" against Sakowitz.
Sakowitz was born in Belarus when it was still part of the Soviet Union and arrived in Israel in 1990. He lived in Israel until 1994, when he returned to his native country. He went back to Israel a year later, but departed once again, to finally return in 2018.
The suspect, a divorced father of two, initially said he was alone in Israel but later changed his story. He was then arrested and placed in solitary confinement. He testified to being at the murder scene while he was on his way to visit his girlfriend, but denied all other allegations.
Bakraknot, a resident of Kibbutz Kiryat Anavim, located a few kilometers west of Jerusalem, was a photography student. She went missing in November 1993 and her body was found two days later in the Eshtaol Forest bearing signs of violence and rape. She was last seen getting into a Subaru Legacy sedan as she hitchhiked in Tel Aviv, and it is believed the man who drove the car is the one who killed her.
Two men were arrested and released after the murder, including an IAF reservist pilot who was cleared by a polygraph test. The other suspect was a salesman who served in the IDF with Bakraknot.
A third man, a serial sex offender, was also arrested and released three months after the event. Two years later, the victim's parents claimed two men were behind the murder and not one, but the mystery remained unsolved.
Other kibbutz members said the victim's father continued to search for the man who killed his daughter until the day he died in 2010.
"I don’t know if I should be happy," Vardit's mother Ra'aya Bakraknot told Ynet last week. "Many theories ended up in nothing over the years and I've often been disappointed. I can't be happy. I hope this time it's him."
This new development comes less than a week after another young woman, Ori Ansbacher, was raped and murdered in the Jerusalem area. The suspect Arafat Irfayia, a 29-year-old resident of Hebron in the West Bank was arrested by the IDF on Saturday and is believed to be affiliated with the Hamas terror group.
6 feb 2019
Out of fear a trial might become highly politicized ahead of the April elections, Israeli military aims for a plea agreement with five soldiers from the religious Netzah Yehuda battalion, who violently abused Palestinians suspected of aiding their comrades' killer.
The Israeli military is seeking to reach a plea deal with the five soldiers from the IDF's religious battalion Netzah Yehuda, indicted last week for severely beating two Palestinian detainees, out of fear that a trial in a military court ahead of the April elections will become politicized affecting the court's proceedings. IDF also fears that a trial will negatively impact the soldiers and their families, as well as other conscripts from the national-religious and national-ultra-Orthodox communities.
The incident took place earlier this month during a manhunt for As'am Barghouti, who shot dead two soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion at the Giv'at Asaf outpost in the West Bank in December. The two Palestinians were arrested on suspicion they helped Barghouti and his brother—who were also involved in a terror attack near Ofra Junction that left seven people wounded—evade capture. The two detainees were severely beaten while being transported by the Netzah Yehuda troops, leaving them with fractured ribs and noses.
The IDF in general and the Military Advocate General's Office in particular, believe lessons have to be learned from the highly publicized trial of Sgt. Elor Azaria that sparked a public and political outcry after he had been tried in a military court for shooting an unarmed Palestinian terrorist who had already been neutralized.
The fact that the trial is due to take place in the midst of election campaigns could politicize this issue to the point that the IDF loses control of the situation. For instance, during the Azaria trial—that was held nowhere near an election campaign—the influx of right-wing politicians that visited the court was enormous.
The fact that the five soldiers are represented this time by military defense attorneys is supposed to assist in the task of reaching a plea agreement, which will most likely include months-long prison sentence. In the meantime, the army's pressure to avoid a trial is supposed to make it easier for the accused to negotiate during the three mediation talks—the first out of which is due to be held next week with another two a week later.
A three-judge panel has already been set up for the trial, headed by the president of Jaffa Military Court, Lt. Col. Carmel Wahabi, who was on the judges’ panel that unanimously convicted Azaria of manslaughter.
One of the officers in the troubled battalion testified to the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division, saying that he didn’t prepare the soldiers for the mental difficulties of transporting those involved in their killing their comrades-in-arms. “We deserved to participate in the arrest operation of those involved in the terrorist attack in which the two Netzah Yehuda soldiers were killed. It was a way to get closure, not a way to get revenge,” said the officer.
"If we knew that the murderer As'am Barghouti was going to be arrested that night, we would have mentally prepared and things would have looked different,” added the officer. “The arrested soldiers are really good and valuable fighters. They are not aggressive. What happened to them does not show their true character because they found themselves in an emotionally stressful situation following the death of their comrades."
Another officer in the battalion emphasized that the indicted soldiers saw the bodies of their comrades after the shooting and did not receive the needed psychological treatment afterwards. "This is an influential factor; the battalion experienced trauma of war. This issue should be approached in a sensitive manner,” he said.
“The five soldiers were charged with aggravated abuse and aggravated battery. The soldiers allegedly cursed, slapped, punched and hit the suspects with fists and blunt objects, targeting their heads as well as other body parts, while the two Palestinians were tied up and blindfolded. The soldiers also allegedly kicked the suspects in the groin and pulled their hair,” said the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit in a statement.
"This indictment should not have been filed to begin with, and we are confident that by the end of the trial all the details will be clarified and things will look differently," said the military defense attorney representing the soldiers.
“These are outstanding soldiers, whose comrades were killed just a month prior, forced into a situation in which they had to carry out the arrests of those who murdered their comrades (sic) … the aspects related to their mental health should be taken into consideration.”
The Israeli military is seeking to reach a plea deal with the five soldiers from the IDF's religious battalion Netzah Yehuda, indicted last week for severely beating two Palestinian detainees, out of fear that a trial in a military court ahead of the April elections will become politicized affecting the court's proceedings. IDF also fears that a trial will negatively impact the soldiers and their families, as well as other conscripts from the national-religious and national-ultra-Orthodox communities.
The incident took place earlier this month during a manhunt for As'am Barghouti, who shot dead two soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion at the Giv'at Asaf outpost in the West Bank in December. The two Palestinians were arrested on suspicion they helped Barghouti and his brother—who were also involved in a terror attack near Ofra Junction that left seven people wounded—evade capture. The two detainees were severely beaten while being transported by the Netzah Yehuda troops, leaving them with fractured ribs and noses.
The IDF in general and the Military Advocate General's Office in particular, believe lessons have to be learned from the highly publicized trial of Sgt. Elor Azaria that sparked a public and political outcry after he had been tried in a military court for shooting an unarmed Palestinian terrorist who had already been neutralized.
The fact that the trial is due to take place in the midst of election campaigns could politicize this issue to the point that the IDF loses control of the situation. For instance, during the Azaria trial—that was held nowhere near an election campaign—the influx of right-wing politicians that visited the court was enormous.
The fact that the five soldiers are represented this time by military defense attorneys is supposed to assist in the task of reaching a plea agreement, which will most likely include months-long prison sentence. In the meantime, the army's pressure to avoid a trial is supposed to make it easier for the accused to negotiate during the three mediation talks—the first out of which is due to be held next week with another two a week later.
A three-judge panel has already been set up for the trial, headed by the president of Jaffa Military Court, Lt. Col. Carmel Wahabi, who was on the judges’ panel that unanimously convicted Azaria of manslaughter.
One of the officers in the troubled battalion testified to the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division, saying that he didn’t prepare the soldiers for the mental difficulties of transporting those involved in their killing their comrades-in-arms. “We deserved to participate in the arrest operation of those involved in the terrorist attack in which the two Netzah Yehuda soldiers were killed. It was a way to get closure, not a way to get revenge,” said the officer.
"If we knew that the murderer As'am Barghouti was going to be arrested that night, we would have mentally prepared and things would have looked different,” added the officer. “The arrested soldiers are really good and valuable fighters. They are not aggressive. What happened to them does not show their true character because they found themselves in an emotionally stressful situation following the death of their comrades."
Another officer in the battalion emphasized that the indicted soldiers saw the bodies of their comrades after the shooting and did not receive the needed psychological treatment afterwards. "This is an influential factor; the battalion experienced trauma of war. This issue should be approached in a sensitive manner,” he said.
“The five soldiers were charged with aggravated abuse and aggravated battery. The soldiers allegedly cursed, slapped, punched and hit the suspects with fists and blunt objects, targeting their heads as well as other body parts, while the two Palestinians were tied up and blindfolded. The soldiers also allegedly kicked the suspects in the groin and pulled their hair,” said the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit in a statement.
"This indictment should not have been filed to begin with, and we are confident that by the end of the trial all the details will be clarified and things will look differently," said the military defense attorney representing the soldiers.
“These are outstanding soldiers, whose comrades were killed just a month prior, forced into a situation in which they had to carry out the arrests of those who murdered their comrades (sic) … the aspects related to their mental health should be taken into consideration.”
1 feb 2019
A Palestinian has teenager sustained multiple fractures in his legs after being assaulted by Israeli soldiers near Jenin city, in the northern West Bank, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC).
PRC official, Mahmoud Saadi, told WAFA that 17-year-old Majdi Abu-Ghali, from Jenin, was beaten severely, by Israeli soldiers, after he entered the site of the abandoned Israeli settlement of Ghanim, east of Jenin.
The teen was reportedly unaware of the Israeli soldiers who had raided the evacuated settlement, and was surprised by soldiers who shortly attacked and brutally beat him for no reason.
The teenager was moved to nearby Khalil Suleiman public hospital for medical treatment.
Israeli occupation forces have a long record of physically assaulting Palestinians while briefly detaining them. Earlier today, an Israeli court indicted five Israeli soldiers for beating two handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian detainees.
According to the indictment, on a day in early January, the soldiers punched, slapped, kicked and beat the two detainees, hitting them in their head, face, chest, legs and more.
PRC official, Mahmoud Saadi, told WAFA that 17-year-old Majdi Abu-Ghali, from Jenin, was beaten severely, by Israeli soldiers, after he entered the site of the abandoned Israeli settlement of Ghanim, east of Jenin.
The teen was reportedly unaware of the Israeli soldiers who had raided the evacuated settlement, and was surprised by soldiers who shortly attacked and brutally beat him for no reason.
The teenager was moved to nearby Khalil Suleiman public hospital for medical treatment.
Israeli occupation forces have a long record of physically assaulting Palestinians while briefly detaining them. Earlier today, an Israeli court indicted five Israeli soldiers for beating two handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian detainees.
According to the indictment, on a day in early January, the soldiers punched, slapped, kicked and beat the two detainees, hitting them in their head, face, chest, legs and more.
31 jan 2019
The two detainees suffered severe rib and nose fractures and needed urgent medical care after five soldiers from the IDF's Netzah Yehuda battalion violently abused them; Palestinian suspects were arrested on suspicion of aiding attacker who killed the soldiers' comrades.
A platoon commander and four combat soldiers from the IDF's religious battalion Netzah Yehuda were indicted Thursday for severely beating two Palestinian detainees, leaving them seriously hurt with fractures in their ribs and noses.
The incident took place earlier this month during a manhunt for As'am Barghouti, who shot dead two soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion at the Giv'at Asaf outpost in the West Bank in December.
The two Palestinians were arrested on suspicion they helped Barghouti and his brother—who were also involved in a terror attack near Ofra Junction that left seven people wounded—evade capture.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said the five soldiers were charged with aggravated abuse and aggravated battery. The soldiers allegedly cursed, slapped, punched and hit the suspects with fists and blunt objects, targeting their heads as well as other body parts, while the two Palestinians were tied up and blindfolded. The soldiers also allegedly kicked the suspects in the groin and pulled on their hair.
As the suspects were being transported by the Netzah Yehuda troops, the vehicle passed the Giv'at Asaf Junction, where the two of the soldiers’ comrades—Sergeant Yosef Cohen and Staff Sergeant Yovel Mor Yosef—had been gunned down. This prompted the Nitzan Yehuda soldiers who were sitting in the back of the car with the detainees to start abusing them, while the platoon commander observed but did not interfere.
When a different IDF unit took custody over the detainees in order to transport them to the Shin Bet’s interrogation facility, they noticed the two Palestinians had been physically abused.
The indictment states that footage of the incident, filmed by one of the soldiers, shows the troops cheering as the suspects were being beaten. "At one point, the defendants removed the blindfold from one of the detainees, so he would see his friend being beaten, while the other soldiers were cheering,” the indictment says. “As a result, the two suspects needed urgent medical treatment and were later hospitalized at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem."
Once at the hospital, doctors found the two Palestinians had suffered severe rib and nose fractures.
Two of the soldiers are also accused of obstructing justice. One of the defendants tried to falsely claim he had trouble speaking Hebrew during his questioning, while another deleted several WhatsApp messages from his phone, which were deemed important to the investigation.
"This indictment should not have been filed to begin with, and we are confident that by the end of the trial all the details will be clarified and things will look differently," said the military defense attorney representing the soldiers. “These are outstanding soldiers, whose comrades were killed just a month prior, forced into a situation in which they had to carry out the arrest of those who murdered their comrades (sic) … the aspects related to their mental health should be taken into consideration.”
The Military Prosecution asked the court to extend the remand of the soldiers until the end of the legal proceedings against them.
A platoon commander and four combat soldiers from the IDF's religious battalion Netzah Yehuda were indicted Thursday for severely beating two Palestinian detainees, leaving them seriously hurt with fractures in their ribs and noses.
The incident took place earlier this month during a manhunt for As'am Barghouti, who shot dead two soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion at the Giv'at Asaf outpost in the West Bank in December.
The two Palestinians were arrested on suspicion they helped Barghouti and his brother—who were also involved in a terror attack near Ofra Junction that left seven people wounded—evade capture.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said the five soldiers were charged with aggravated abuse and aggravated battery. The soldiers allegedly cursed, slapped, punched and hit the suspects with fists and blunt objects, targeting their heads as well as other body parts, while the two Palestinians were tied up and blindfolded. The soldiers also allegedly kicked the suspects in the groin and pulled on their hair.
As the suspects were being transported by the Netzah Yehuda troops, the vehicle passed the Giv'at Asaf Junction, where the two of the soldiers’ comrades—Sergeant Yosef Cohen and Staff Sergeant Yovel Mor Yosef—had been gunned down. This prompted the Nitzan Yehuda soldiers who were sitting in the back of the car with the detainees to start abusing them, while the platoon commander observed but did not interfere.
When a different IDF unit took custody over the detainees in order to transport them to the Shin Bet’s interrogation facility, they noticed the two Palestinians had been physically abused.
The indictment states that footage of the incident, filmed by one of the soldiers, shows the troops cheering as the suspects were being beaten. "At one point, the defendants removed the blindfold from one of the detainees, so he would see his friend being beaten, while the other soldiers were cheering,” the indictment says. “As a result, the two suspects needed urgent medical treatment and were later hospitalized at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem."
Once at the hospital, doctors found the two Palestinians had suffered severe rib and nose fractures.
Two of the soldiers are also accused of obstructing justice. One of the defendants tried to falsely claim he had trouble speaking Hebrew during his questioning, while another deleted several WhatsApp messages from his phone, which were deemed important to the investigation.
"This indictment should not have been filed to begin with, and we are confident that by the end of the trial all the details will be clarified and things will look differently," said the military defense attorney representing the soldiers. “These are outstanding soldiers, whose comrades were killed just a month prior, forced into a situation in which they had to carry out the arrest of those who murdered their comrades (sic) … the aspects related to their mental health should be taken into consideration.”
The Military Prosecution asked the court to extend the remand of the soldiers until the end of the legal proceedings against them.
23 jan 2019
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The Lebanese security authorities on Tuesday announced the arrest of a person accused of being involved in the attempted assassination of a senior Hamas official in early 2018.
In a statement, the Lebanese army said that the intelligence directorate was able to arrest, on January 21, 2019 in Sharhabil area of Sidon city, Hussein Ahmed Battu, whose mission was to monitor and gather information about Hamas official Mohamed Hamdan before the failed attempt to assassinate him on January 14, 2018 through detonating his car. According to the army’s statement, the detainee confessed to working as a spy for the Israeli intelligence apparatus, Mossad, since 2014 and that he |
met with his handlers outside Lebanon and received from them equipment he used to monitor the Hamas official.
He also confessed that he started to monitor Hamdan in the summer of 2017 and provided his handlers with the needed information that led up to the day when another group was assigned by the Mossad to assassinate the target.
He also confessed that he started to monitor Hamdan in the summer of 2017 and provided his handlers with the needed information that led up to the day when another group was assigned by the Mossad to assassinate the target.
