Ahed Tamimi, Palestinian teenager famed for slapping an Israeli soldier on camera, should have been shot, at least in the knee, Deputy Knesset Speaker Bezalel Smotrich wrote on Twitter, Saturday.
“In my opinion, she should have gotten a bullet, at least in the kneecap,” he wrote. “That would have put her under house arrest for the rest of her life.”
He was responding to Israeli journalist Yinon Magal, who had reposted the footage of Tamimi slapping the soldier along with the text, “I’m watching this clip again and am so glad that Tamimi is still in jail. Sometimes, it’s good that the mills of justice grind slowly.”
Tamimi, 17, was arrested and charged soon after the incident took place last December. In March, she was convicted in a plea bargain of assaulting a soldier, incitement and interfering with a soldier in the line of duty. She was sentenced to eight months in prison plus a fine of 5,000 shekels ($1,400).
MK Michal Rozin responded angrily to Smotrich’s tweet. “You should be ashamed of yourself,” noting that Israeli Hilltop settlers, who throw stones at Israeli soldiers are not subject to punishment by Israeli authorities.
She wrote: “Oh, I forgot – the law is different for enemies… I don’t accept your excuses and explanations. You are a thug and an inciter.”
In the original indictment, Ahed Tamimi was also charged with several other offenses, including throwing stones on various occasions.
Tamimi slapped the soldier, who stormed her house one day after shooting her cousin causing him lose part of his skull and has been living in permanent disability.
~Haaretz/Days of Palestine
