Interim Summary
From all of the above, it emerges that the defendants decided in advance to kill the deceased, planned the act in advance and carried out preparatory actions for its execution; and acted in cold blood during the incident in order to fulfill their goal of killing the deceased and ensuring his death. Therefore, all the elements of the offense of intentional murder under section 300(a)(2) of the Old Version Law, which was attributed to the defendants in the indictment, were proven before us.
In view of the nature of the evidence detailed above, the defendants' argument that the defendants caused the death of the deceased recklessly (section 301C of the law as it is today), or with indifference (the offense of manslaughter under section 298 of the law in its old version) should be dismissed.
- Examining the Impact of Amendment 137 to the Law on Our Matter
On January 10, 2019, Amendment 137 to the Penal Law (S.H. 5779 No. 2779) was passed, which changed the hierarchy of homicide offenses in Israeli law, including the offense of murder. Section 25(a) of the Amendment Law (Penal Law (Amendment No. 137), 5779-2019) states that the commencement date of the law is six months from the date of its publication (i.e., on July 10, 2019), and it will apply to offenses committed from that date onwards. With regard to the offense of manslaughter committed before the aforesaid commencement date, section 25(b) of the Amendment Law stipulates as follows:
"An offense committed before the commencement date and for which a final judgment has not yet been rendered, the provisions of section 5(a) of the main law will apply; In this regard, when determining what is the law that is lenient to the perpetrator, the court will examine the entire arrangement set forth in the main law as drafted in this law, as opposed to the arrangement that was set forth in the main law regarding causing death on the eve of the commencement day."
and in accordance with the provisions of section 5(a) of the Penal Law, to which the Amendment Law relates: