Israeli court increases sentence for theft of cars from Kibbutz Be’eri — Jerusalem Post
The Beersheba District Court in Israel increased the prison sentence of Guy Haddad, convicted of stealing five cars from Kibbutz Be’eri after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, from five and a half to seven and a half years. The court upheld the state’s appeal over the leniency of the previous sentence and rejected the convicted man’s own appeal, The Jerusalem Post reports.
Judges Gilat Shalev, Itay Bresler-Gonen and Fani Gilat Cohen concluded that the original sentence did not reflect the exceptional severity of the crimes. Haddad, the owner of a vehicle towing company, was found guilty by the Beersheba court of conspiracy to commit a crime and five counts of vehicle theft.
Access through volunteering
The court found that Haddad and another man volunteered at a logistics center near Sde Yoav that assisted the military and residents of communities near the Gaza Strip border. This gave them access to areas closed off by the military after the attack.
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On October 18 and 19, 2023, the men arrived in Be’eri under the pretext of removing residents’ vehicles. They loaded five cars onto tow trucks and took them out of the kibbutz. Some of the vehicles were later transported to territory of the Palestinian Authority, and it was not possible to return them to their owners. Fictitious sale documents were used for at least one vehicle.
Fine and compensation remain in force
The original sentence also provided for a suspended sentence, a fine of 25,000 shekels, revocation of the right to drive, and payments of 5,000 shekels to each of the five owners of the stolen vehicles. These parts of the ruling remained in force.
Haddad appealed the verdict, arguing that the evidence did not prove that he planned the crimes and that testimony against him was unreliable. He also claimed inadequate legal representation. The appeals court rejected these arguments, stating that testimony from volunteers, military personnel and Shin Bet officers, communication records and video footage confirmed his leading role in the thefts.
