Jpost
The Beersheba Magistrate’s Court on Monday sentenced three Beersheba residents to lengthy prison terms for looting the site of the Nova music festival a day after the October 7 Hamas massacre, stealing personal belongings from victims who had been murdered at the scene and from others who fled for their lives.
Judge Shosh Shitrit sentenced 29-year-old Liran Yaakobov to 36 months in prison, 30-year-old Netanel Aviv to 38 months, and 30-year-old Oz Hai Rachum to 40 months. Each defendant was also ordered to pay a fine of NIS 18,000, while Rachum was additionally convicted of possession of drugs for personal use after narcotics were found during a search of his home.
According to the amended indictment, the three men drove on October 8, 2023 – one day after at least 347 civilians and 17 police officers were murdered at the Nova festival near Kibbutz Re’im as part of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel – to the massacre site, which, by that time, had been declared a closed military zone.
After encountering police roadblocks, Yaakobov falsely claimed he lived in a nearby moshav, enabling the group to pass through. Once inside the restricted area, the defendants roamed the site with the intent to steal property, entering abandoned vehicles and a deserted caravan, attempting to open trunks and doors, and removing items belonging to both murder victims and survivors who had fled the attack.
Among the stolen items were a laptop belonging to Jenny Nissimboim, a credit card and ID belonging to Shay Mutzafi, and identification documents of Matan Lior – all of whom were murdered at the festival – as well as cash, electronics, alcohol, tools, and additional equipment belonging to other festival attendees and vendors.
Defendants plead guilty
The defendants pleaded guilty and were convicted of entering a military zone without authorization, obstructing a police officer, breaking into vehicles with intent to steal, attempted break-ins, and theft.
In her sentencing decision, Shitrit described the crimes as part of a phenomenon of ‘internal looting’ that emerged in the aftermath of the October 7 attack, calling it a moral collapse that compounded the national trauma.
‘The immense joy of life that was cut short at the Nova festival on October 7 became a tragic symbol of national loss,’ she wrote. ‘Alongside the unimaginable atrocities of murder, abuse, and abduction, another unthinkable phenomenon was revealed – internal looting.’
Shitrit rejected defense claims that the defendants had gone to the area to assist or rescue victims, noting that their own admissions showed they entered the site with the intent to steal after deliberately deceiving police and violating a military closure order.
She emphasized that the thefts occurred while dead bodies were still in the area and while security forces were engaged in emergency operations.
‘The looting in these circumstances is not merely a property crime,’ she wrote. ‘It is an absolute betrayal of human dignity and basic social solidarity.’ She added that personal items such as phones, laptops, and identification documents often constitute the final tangible link between victims and their families and that stealing them deepens the suffering of the bereaved.
Prosecutors argued during sentencing that the defendants’ actions crossed a fundamental moral line, exploiting chaos and collective grief for personal gain at a time when the country was in a state of existential crisis. Prosecutors further urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence, warning that leniency would send a dangerous message in the aftermath of a national catastrophe.
While the court took into account the defendants’ personal circumstances and guilty pleas, it concluded that the severity and symbolic weight of the offenses warranted substantial prison terms, given the absence of a specific looting offense in Israeli criminal law and the need to reflect the exceptional gravity of crimes committed under such circumstances.
‘The looting of victims of the October 7 massacre is not a localized criminal event,’ reads the ruling. ‘It is a profound ethical failure that demands a clear judicial response – one that reaffirms the boundaries of humanity even in times of national disaster.’