Gan Ha'ir rapist sentenced to 30 years for vicious Tel Aviv attack

Judges call behavior akin to murder of victims' souls; punishment is one of the most severe given for rape in Israel.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Gan Ha'ir rape suspect Ahmed Bani Jaber in court 370 (photo credit: Channel 10)
Gan Ha'ir rape suspect Ahmed Bani Jaber in court 370
(photo credit: Channel 10)
A three-judge panel of the Tel Aviv District Court sentenced the “Gan Ha’ir rapist” on Wednesday to 30 years in jail.
The punishment is in the maximum range for sexual-related criminal offenses and considered one of the most severe penalties ever meted out for rape in Israel.
In May 2012, Ahmed Bani- Jaber followed a teenage boy and girl to the Gan Ha’ir mall parking lot near Tel Aviv City Hall, brandished a knife and forced them into the garage’s bathroom, where he forced the couple to carry out sexual acts on one another and raped the 17-year-old girl.
The judges called Jaber’s behavior reprehensible and akin to the “murder of the victims’ souls.” The court added that Jaber “did not reveal an iota of compassion or a shadow of humanity.”
Jaber’s acts “constituted sadistic acts that cannot be comprehended.”
He was also convicted of attacking police, illegally entering Israel, forging an identity card and impersonation, and was sentenced to pay NIS 258,000 to each of the victims.
During the investigation, although Jaber denied the rape, claiming he only tried to rob the victims, police said DNA evidence had linked him to the rape.
The raped woman previously wrote a statement which said that, “this was more than rape. I cannot absorb this suffering. He humiliated me as a woman and as a Jew.”