The Vice President of the Haifa District Court has sentenced a terrorist to 12 years and 4 months in Israeli prison on Monday, on charges of attempting to kidnap Jews to use as bargaining chips between Israel and terror groups.
Hussein Murad, an illegal immigrant, wanted to kidnap Jews in order to secure the release of several top-ranking and hardened terrorists still sitting in Israeli prisons, according to court documents.
Hussein approached the community of Avtalyon in the Galilee and attempted to abduct a man from his home to that end. The victim struggled and managed to find help, after another resident who was home at the time shot at Hussein’s feet with a personal handgun to keep him from breaking into the victim’s house.
Despite this, Hussein persisted, throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles on several roads the day after the abduction and again that week.
“We have to consider the fact that the defendant’s plans to kidnap a citizen did not materialize due to the ingenuity of Yisrael Shay, and the fact that he had a gun and pointed it in the direction of the defendant and eventually fired to stop it,” Judge Shapira ruled. “Otherwise, it may be that the defendant could have been able to implement his plan to kidnap the citizen and the result could have been fatal.”
“It should be noted as well that throwing Molotov cocktails at moving vehicles can be destructive and deadly, and cause an accident, a fire in the vehicle and even death,” Shapira added.