Serious Crimes Case (Haifa) 9375-05-21 State of Israel v. David Abu Aziz

Verdict

In accordance with the law, we announce that we have decided to acquit the defendant of the offenses of intentional threats and sabotage, which were attributed to him in the indictment.

Introduction

Three plots in Block 12605, located in the city of Nesher, were at the center of the dispute, which, according to the claim, led to a difficult and tragic event in which the life of the deceased, the late Adv. Ephraim Arnon, who was appointed as receiver for two of them, was taken for granted.

We are dealing with plots 48, 49 and 50 on which various business buildings are built.  The lease rights in the plots (hereinafter also referred to as "the property" or "the Einhorn Complex" or "the Compound" or "the Dispute Complex") belonged to the late Shlomo Einhorn, and were inherited by his son, Moshe Einhorn and his daughter, Dalia Mandel, whose son Yosef entered her shoes while she was a classified.  In 1995, the late Shlomo Einhorn sold Plot 49 to the defendant, and the latter also sought to purchase the two additional plots.  A long and multi-system legal dispute was connected to the plots, and at a certain point the deceased was appointed as a receiver for two of them, with his firm representing Moshe Einhorn and Yosef Mandel.

According to the claim, in view of the "bad blood" that flowed between the various parties to the same dispute that occupied a number of courts, on March 24, 2021, in the early morning hours of the morning, in the yard of the deceased's home, the defendant (in the company of another person) rose up to the deceased and killed him.

The Indictment

On May 5, 2021, the indictment was filed, the following facts:

1. At the relevant times of the indictment, the late Ephraim Arnon, born in 1950, lived (hereinafter: "The deceased"), in a house at 8 Veterans Street in Nesher (hereinafter: "Home").
2. The deceased was a lawyer by profession and at the relevant times of the indictment he owned a law firm (hereinafter: "The Office").
3. Moshe Einhorn and Yosef Mendel are the owners of real estate rights in parcels 48 and 50 in Block 12605 (hereinafter: "Smoothies"), which they inherited in 2005 from the estate of the late Shlomo Einhorn z"l (hereinafter: "The Heirs" and"The Estate"). The plots are located in the industrial complex on 107 Bar Yehuda Road in Nesher (hereinafter: "The Complex").
4. Since 1995, the defendant has held the land area located in plot 49 of the complex. Over the years, a dispute arose between the defendant and the heirs, against the background of the heirs' claim that the defendant illegally invaded the areas in Plots 48 and 50 (hereinafter: "The Territories"), and even set up a kiosk with the "Toto" station, which was operated by his son in the months preceding the date of the indictment (hereinafter: "The Conflict").
5. In November 2017, as part of a legal proceeding that took place at the Execution Office in Haifa, the deceased was appointed as the receiver of the estate's real estate rights in parcels 48 and 50. During March 2018, as part of his role as a receiver, the deceased approached the defendant demanding that he evacuate the areas and demolish the buildings he had built there.
6. In December 2018, as part of another legal proceeding that took place at the Haifa Magistrate's Court, the deceased was appointed as a receiver for the real estate rights of the heirs of the estate and some of the business owners in the plots, in order to complete the process of obtaining building permits, Form 4 and registering the rights in the plots (hereinafter: "Appointment Order"). By virtue of the appointment order, the deceased was authorized to act in any legal proceeding to evict an intruder from the territories to which the receivership applies.  Subsequently, he contacted the Nesher Municipality, the Local Planning and Building Committee, and the Israel Police, and asked for their urgent intervention in order to evacuate the defendant from the Occupied Territories.
7. In January 2019, due to the defendant's refusal to vacate the Occupied Territories, the deceased, as part of his role as a lawyer and receiver for the plots, filed a lawsuit with the Haifa Magistrate's Court against the defendant, in which he sought to order the removal of the defendant from Sections 48 and 50 (hereinafter: "The Legal Process").
8. During the months of January and February 2019, as part of the legal proceedings, the deceased came to the compound, together with a lawyer from his firm, on a number of occasions, in order to inspect the disputed areas, document them and conduct measurements there. During one of the visits to the compound, during the month of January 2019, a verbal argument developed between the defendant and the deceased, with the defendant raising his voice at the deceased and placing his hand on his shoulder.  During another visit, in February 2019, in which the defendant and his attorney were present, a verbal confrontation developed between the defendant and the deceased, against the background of the defendant's refusal to allow the deceased to enter the Occupied Territories, and as a result the deceased called the police to the scene.

The Ottoman Settlement [Old Version] 19169.    On June 15, 2020, against the background of the dispute and the legal proceedings, the defendant arrived at the office of the heir Moshe Einhorn (hereinafter: "Moshe"), who serves as the director of a yeshiva in Nesher.  The defendant entered the office, threw a closet on the floor, threatened Moshe, saying that he would not be able to conduct the meeting until the matter between them was settled, and hit him with his hand on the back of his hand.  The defendant did all this with the intention of intimidating Moshe and intimidating him.