Five convicted members of a Jewish terorist underground have appealed to the Supreme Court for lighter sentences. The State prosecution, meanwhile, contends that their sentences are too light and has appealed to the high court to impose stiffer penalties.
Nathan Nathanson, Haim Ben-David and Barak Neer filed their appeals for reduced sentences. Nathanson was convicted of membership in a terrorist organization, causing serious bodily harm and participating in the car bomb attacks against three Arab mayors in June, 1980. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
He contended in his appeal that he had been brainwashed into confessing the crimes and claimed his in- terrogators told him that amnesty for all of the accused Jewish terroists depended on his confession. Ben-David was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for his part in a conspiracy to blow up Islamic shrines on the Temple Mount. Neer drew a six year jail term for participation in the machinegun and grenade attack on the Islamic University in Hebron in which three Palestinian students were killed and for planting bombs in Arab buses in East Jerusalem in an attempt to blow them up.
Two other convicted terrorists, Hagai Segal and Yitzhak Novick, also filed their appeals with the Supreme Court.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
