Arsonist of Galilee famous Catholic church sent to jail
Xinhua,December 12, 2017 Adjust font size:
JERUSALEM, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli court sentenced an Israeli extremist to four years in prison for the 2015 arson attack on the Church of Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish.
The Nazareth District Court sentenced Yinon Reuveni, a 22-year-old settler, also a 50,000-shekel (about 14,000 U.S. dollars) fine and additional two years on probation.
His lawyer, Itamar Ben Gvir, a prominent lawyer of ultra-nationalist activists, said he will appeal against the verdict.
On July 3, Reuveni was found guilty of burning and causing damage to the iconic Catholic church near the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. He was convicted of arson under aggravated circumstances, vandalism driven by hostility towards a public, and conspiracy to commit a crime.
He was arrested about a month after the June 2015 arson. Another Israeli right-wing activist was arrested together with him but the court later acquitted the latter of all charges.
According to the Shin Bet, Reuveni is part of the so-called "hilltop youth," groups of extremists, nationalist youths from controversial Jewish outposts in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Shin Bet said that Reuveni was arrested and investigated in the past over suspicion of committing attacks against Arabs and setting fire to Palestinians' property. He was banned from the West Bank for six months by an administrative restraining order, but no charges were pressed against him.
The Church of Multiplication marks the site where Christians believe that Jesus performed the miracle of feeding throngs with five loaves of bread and two fish.
Two people sustained light injuries due to the fire, which caused extensive damage to the building.
A Hebrew graffiti was spray-painted on a wall of the church. The graffiti was taken from a passage in the Jewish prayer book, calling to destroy worshippers of idols.
The arson of the church came amidst an escalating number of attacks on Christian sites in Israel. It triggered widespread condemnations as well as concerns for the safety of Christians worldwide.
According to Israeli rights watchdog Rabbis for Human Rights, there have been hundreds of hate crime attacks against holy sites since 2009, including cemeteries, mosques, churches, and monasteries, in Israel, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Enditem