Court sentences Palestinian terrorist who killed Petah Tikva rabbi to life in prison
Khalil Dweikat, the Palestinian terrorist who murdered Rabbi Shai Ohayon in Petah Tikva in 2020, was sentenced to life in prison by the Lod District Court on Sunday.
Dweikat, 48, from the village of Rujeib, near Nablus, stabbed Ohayon, a husband and father of four, to death at Segula junction in August 2020.
Dweikat was charged with murder in September 2020 for deciding to kill an Israeli citizen or soldier by stabbing them “for Palestine, the Palestinian people, al-Aqsa and God.”
Magen David Adom paramedics found Ohayon unconscious at a bus stop in the area and transferred
him to the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva in critical condition. He succumbed to his wounds at the hospital.
Ohayon was a prominent figure in his neighborhood. His neighbors said he was always offering Torah lessons to anyone who was interested.
Dweikat “did not express any empathy, remorse or sorrow in relation to the victim or his family members” during his questioning, the prosecutors said during his trial. He reportedly had no criminal background and held a permit to work in Israel as a construction worker.
According to reports, Dweikat suffers from mental disorders and had been treated by Palestinian Authority health officials. He had no history of terrorist activities and did not belong to a terrorist group.
Two months after Dweikat was charged, the IDF demolished his home. When entering Rujeib, soldiers were met with stones and paint cans thrown at them by some 150 rioting Palestinians.