Dr. Elias Khoury, the Israeli gynecologist convicted of two counts of raping his patients, was sentenced to seven years in prison by the Haifa District Court on Sunday.
Khoury, 63, has a quarter-century's experience in gynecology. The two women he raped were in their 20s; he was also convicted of verbally and sexually harassing one of them.
The doctor is also the former deputy director of the women's health and maternity department at the Holy Family Hospital in Nazareth. He also had a private clinic in the village of Yafia.
The events for which Khoury is now being punished happened six and seven years ago. In one case, the doctor asked his patient about her sex life with her husband and then proceeded to violate her under the pretense of it being "a normal examination," according to the victim's court testimony. In the other case, the doctor examined the patient's genitalia and said it was "the type he prefers" before violating her.
The sentence versus what the prosecution wanted
The prosecutor asked the court for a sentence of 14-20 years, but the court settled on a more lenient sentence.
The investigation has been ongoing for seven years, during which time Khoury continued to practice medicine until his indictment in 2018.
The judges noted in their verdict that Dr. Khoury took no responsibility for his actions; he did not apologize for his actions nor did he make any efforts to compensate the women.
In addition to a prison sentence, the doctor is liable for a total of NIS 300,000 in compensation to the women he raped - 180,000 to one and 120,000 to the other.