Two days after Hamas’s October 7 attack three years ago, two high-value sound systems were stolen from the Nova music festival massacre site in a scheme involving three men. The systems belonged to a company co-owned by Matan Lior and his business partner, Amitai Rahum.
Lior was murdered at the festival after courageously helping evacuate festivalgoers under fire. On Wednesday, the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court sentenced two of the three men convicted over the scheme to several years in prison, while the third man’s sentencing remains pending.
“Today, exactly three years after Matan was murdered, we are also forced to confront those who stole the equipment that was his life’s work,” Lior’s father, Ofer, said.
“Matan stayed at the scene to save people, and while we were trying to process the disaster, others exploited it to steal. No punishment will bring our son back. This fight is about his dignity, his memory and the demand that those who did this be held accountable for their actions.”
Lior’s mother, Sarah, said returning to court on the anniversary of her son’s murder was particularly difficult.
“For us, Matan is first and foremost our beloved son, and we miss him every day,” she said. “Coming to court precisely on the anniversary of his murder is especially difficult and painful.
“Matan chose to help and save lives in the most difficult moments. It is important to us that people remember who he was and that it be clear that the property he left behind, the product of his work and his dignity also have value. We continue to make his voice heard because he can no longer do so.”
Court orders Hasson to compensate victim's parents, business partner
Judge Amir Doron sentenced Ram Shahin, whom the court described as the driving force behind the scheme and found to have acted fraudulently toward police investigators, to seven years in prison, less time already served in detention in the case.
Shahin was also fined NIS 60,000 and ordered to pay NIS 75,000 in compensation to Lior’s parents and NIS 25,000 to Rahum.
The court also imposed a one-year suspended sentence if Shahin commits a serious property or fraud offense during the three years following his release, and a six-month suspended sentence if he commits a less serious offense of that kind.
The court found that Shahin had arranged for a truck driver to collect the first sound system while falsely claiming that he was retrieving equipment belonging to his missing friend.
After a tracking device on a generator alerted police and officers seized the truck and equipment, Shahin falsely presented himself as Lior’s business partner and persuaded the police investigator to release the truck. Hours later, the second sound system was taken from the festival site.
Shahin argued that he had initially intended to safeguard the equipment and return it to its owners. The court rejected that account, finding that his intention to permanently deprive the owners of the systems had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt through his repeated acts of deception and concealment.
Defendants showed 'complete indifference' where compassion was required
Doron described the offenses as “an extreme moral low,” saying the men had cynically exploited the chaos, grief and helplessness surrounding the massacre to make a profit off abandoned property.
“In a place where basic human compassion and mutual responsibility were required, the defendants displayed complete indifference,” he wrote.
Attorney Michal Hagay Margolin, who represents the Lior family, called the case “despicable and vile.”
“The judgment is of national importance and sends an unequivocal message that there is no room for mercy for those who dishonor the heroes of Israel.”
Daniel Hasson, the second defendant, accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty under an amended indictment after the court had heard some of the witnesses. He was convicted of attempted aggravated theft in connection with the second system.
The court found that his role in the offenses was more limited. Hasson tried to sell the stolen equipment while falsely presenting himself as its owner.
Court ordered defendants to pay compensation to Lior's parents
Hasson told the court that he had not initially gone to the area intending to steal, but admitted that he later tried to sell the equipment for profit.
He was sentenced to three years and four months in prison, with credit for time already served in detention, and fined NIS 30,000. The court also ordered him to pay NIS 40,000 in compensation to Lior’s parents and NIS 15,000 to Rahum.
Hasson also received a one-year suspended sentence if he commits a serious property or fraud offense during the three years following his release, and a six-month suspended sentence if he commits a less serious offense of that kind.
The third defendant, San Lucian Tevel, pleaded guilty under an amended indictment to two counts of aiding aggravated theft. His sentence will be handed down separately.
The Nova Tribe Community Association said it had accompanied the Lior family throughout its effort to make Matan’s voice heard and demand justice.
“Matan worked to save lives, and while his family was contending with its terrible loss, some chose to steal his life’s work,” the association said.
“On the third anniversary of the massacre, that pain takes on especially difficult meaning. We will continue to stand alongside the family after the legal proceedings end and work to preserve the memory and dignity of Matan and all those murdered.”