The criminal department at the State Attorney's Office has filed an appeal to the High Court of Justice against the sentencing of an Israeli who took part in the lynching of an Arab-Israeli in Bat Yam during the Gaza operation in May 2021.
Lahav Naugerker Ohanina, 21, was convicted of committing hate crimes and inciting racially motivated violence after he pleaded guilty to participating in the lynching during Operation Guardian of the Walls.
He was sentenced to one year in prison.
According to the indictment filed against Ohanina, he, along with several other Israelis who arranged a meet-up at the Bat Yam promenade, stormed and vandalized a shawarma restaurant owned by Arab-Israelis and shouted "death to Arabs" while waving the Israeli flag.
Afterward, the mob attacked Said Musa, who was driving through the Bat Yam promenade before the racist crowd dragged him from his car and beat him with flag poles and an electric scooter.
Now, the State Attorney's Office claims Ohanina did not receive the appropriate sentencing for his "long list of violent and racially motivated offenses."
Ohanina's incitement, in the midst of many violent riots across the country at the time, is of a "unique and excessive severity," the appeal reads.
The appeal also highlighted Ohanina's decision to defend the attack while being interviewed on live television covering the lynching in Bat Yam.
The State Attorney's Office noted that the standard sentence for the offenses Ohanina was convicted of is 35 years in prison. It claims it "cannot reconcile with a punishment that is less than 3% of the standard sentencing."
In addition to significantly extending the sentence imposed on Ohanina, the appeal also calls to increase the amount of compensation he was sentenced to pay.