Palestinian given 18 years’ jail for stabbings

A Palestinian youth was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Monday on charge of stabbing two Israelis, a court said.
Soubhi Abu Khalifa confessing to stabbing and seriously wounding an ultra-Orthodox Jewish student and lightly injuring a guard in northern Jerusalem, according to the ruling published by the court.
Khalifa, 19 at the time and originally from the Shuafat refugee camp in annexed east Jerusalem, in May accepted an 18-year plea bargain agreed between the prosecution and the defense.
Jerusalem district court ratified the agreement on Monday.
Another Palestinian youth accepted an 18-year plea deal for manslaughter, the court said.
Abed Dawiat, 20, was accused of throwing stones at a car in September 2015 in east Jerusalem, causing the death of Israeli driver Alexander Levlovich.
The plea bargain still needs to be approved at hearings scheduled for December.
A justice ministry spokesman told AFP the courts generally approve sentences agreed between the prosecution and the defense.
Israel occupied Palestinian east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it.
The two attacks took place at the beginning of a wave of violence that began in October 2015.
Since then, violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories has claimed the lives of 239 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.
The situation has calmed down significantly in recent months.
Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out attacks, according to Israeli authorities. Others were shot dead during protests and clashes, while some died in Israeli air strikes in Gaza.
Earlier this month, an Israeli court sentenced three Palestinian minors convicted of stabbings to more than 10 years each in prison.

Controversial deal
A deal to buy three German-made submarines has come under public scrutiny in Israel after Israeli media discovered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal lawyer represents the local agent of the German conglomerate set to build the vessels.
“Conflict of interest” stories have been rife in the media since Channel 10 television revealed that lawyer David Shimron also represents the Israeli agent of the German group ThyssenKrupp which builds the submarine.
Opposition legislators have called for a parliamentary inquiry and the Justice Ministry said late on Sunday that the attorney-general is looking into whether there had been any conflict of interest.
But the premier, who has sworn he was unaware of Shimron’s link to the deal, defended the purchase of the advanced submarines at Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting.
“The principle that guides me is clear: Israel will be able to defend itself by itself against any enemy, in any field,” he said.
“The security of Israel requires the acquisition of submarines and the renewal of the submarine fleet.
“These are strategic weapons systems that ensure the future, and I tell you, the very existence of the state of Israel for decades to come.”
The purchase is facing mounting calls for an investigation, especially in light of opposition from sectors of the armed forces command and some defense experts because of the high costs.
According to Israeli media, the Jewish state has ordered three more submarines at a combined price of 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion), to replace the oldest vessels in its existing Dolphin fleet, which began entering service in 1999.
Israel already has five of the state-of-the-art German submarines, with a sixth due for delivery in 2017, Maariv newspaper reported.
Germany, in the form of military assistance, has so far covered a third of the costs of the submarines in the Israeli fleet.
Foreign military sources say the Dolphins can be equipped with missiles armed with nuclear warheads.
Israel is the Middle East’s sole if undeclared nuclear power, refusing to confirm or deny that it has such weapons.
In a statement, the ministry said evidence collected so far did not warrant opening a criminal investigation by police.
Shimron represents Miki Ganor, an Israeli businessman described by the Kiel-based shipyards as its sales partner. A Shimron spokesman told Army Radio on Monday that the lawyer did not discuss the submarine purchase with Netanyahu and looks after a wide range of Ganor’s legal interests.
The three submarines, costing about $1.5 billion, are due to replace ageing vessels, with delivery only in about another 10 years. Israel currently has a fleet of five German submarines, with a sixth due to go in service around 2018.
With the Israeli media largely focused on Shimron and whether his representation of both Netanyahu and Ganor was ethical, the prime minister, now in his fourth term, did not appear to be in any immediate political danger.
Nor has there been any indication that the deal itself, which Netanyahu, 67, defended in public remarks to his cabinet on Sunday, is in any jeopardy.
The German-supplied submarines are widely believed to be capable of carrying missiles with nuclear warheads and serve as a second-strike deterrent against Iran, should it ever build atomic weapons. Iran has denied ever seeking nuclear arms and Israel has never acknowledged that it has any of its own.
“These are strategic weapons systems that ensure the future, and I tell you, the very existence of the state of Israel for decades to come,” Netanyahu told the cabinet at its weekly meeting.
“Increasing the security and strength of the state of Israel is the only consideration that guided me in acquiring the submarines,” he said.
Amos Harel, military affairs commentator for the left-wing Haaretz daily, wrote on Monday that even if Netanyahu and Shimron never discussed the submarine issue, there should have been “a Great Wall of China” between the attorney as the prime minister’s lawyer and as Ganor’s representative.
First elected to Israel’s top office two decades ago, Netanyahu has weathered several scandals, including a police investigation and state audits into his family’s spending.
A former defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, who was removed by Netanyahu and is now a political rival, has said that the new submarines are surplus to requirements.

Source: Arab News