The Lod District Court on Sunday sentenced seven men to between 12 to 14 years in prison in connection with the killing of Yigal Yehoshua in May 2021, but did not find them guilty of murder.
Several attendees in the courtroom yelled that the punishment was not severe enough, according to Hebrew-language outlet Ynet.
Judge Ruth Lorch remarked, “The actions of Jewish rioters that preceded the events served as a trigger for the [crime], which was carried out without prior planning. We addressed the circumstances under which the offenses were committed. The days of ‘Operation Guardian of the Walls’ were days of riots, disturbances, and road blockages, at a time when the entire country was burning from within and without,” per Ynet.
Yehoshua, 56, was driving home on May 11, 2021 when an Arab mob in Lod stoned his vehicle. He was rushed to hospital in serious condition after being struck in the head with a brick, and later succumbed to his wounds.
Five of the seven convicts are Israeli citizens residents of Lod—Yusef al-Qadhayim, 21, Walid al-Qadhayim, 25, Karim Bahlul, 18, Iyad Marahla, 20 and Haled Hassouna, 51—and two are Palestinians who were staying illegally in Israel at the time, Ahmad Danun, 25, and Kamel Deif Alla, 21
The seven were charged with murder in 2021, but after reaching a plea agreement with the prosecution, the charge was reclassified to aggravated assault, intentional damage to a vehicle with a racist motive, and the terrorist offense of stoning a vehicle.
The seven confessed to all the offenses except for the terrorist and racist motivation.
In April 2025, the court in Lod ruled that the killing of Yehoshua was an act of terrorism, writing that “the motive was nationalist—to harm Jews as such,” according to Ynet.
“On the one hand, I am glad this is over, because the legal process was long, terrible and very exhausting for us,” said Irina Yehoshua, the victim’s widow, according to Ynet. “Nothing will heal the pain or bring Yigal back, but unfortunately the punishment handed down today is not enough, and our feeling is that the court was lenient with the murderers—and imposed a sentence that does not give enough weight to our pain.”
A lawyer representing the Yehoshua family said it would request that the State Prosecutor’s Office appeal the ruling.
Lod erupted into violent clashes in May 2021 after an Arab man was shot to death by Jewish residents, who said they were acting in self-defense.
Two of the seven convicts are relatives of Mousa Hassouna, the Arab man that was killed.
