Ahed Tamimi, Palestinian Teen Who Slapped Israeli Soldiers, Takes Plea Deal
Sixteen-year-old Ahed Tamimi stands for a hearing in the military court at Ofer military prison in the West Bank village of Betunia on January 1, 2018. Israeli authorities are seeking 12 charges against Ahed after a video of her slapping and kicking two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank went viral, her lawyer said. Image by Getty Images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Ahed Tamimi, the Palestinian teen arrested in part for slapping and harassing Israeli soldiers standing guard in a West Bank Palestinian village, will spend eight months in prison under a plea deal.
The teen has spent the last four months in prison after being arrested in the middle of the night at her home in the flashpoint village of Nabi Saleh. She reportedly will plead guilty to four counts of assault, including the one in which she slapped a soldier in front of her house, which was videotaped and went viral on social media.
The military court must still approve the deal reached with the military prosecutor.
Her case has become a cause célèbre in Israel and abroad, with critics accusing her and her family of orchestrating a PR campaign to discredit Israel, and supporters, mostly on the left, saying Israel is persecuting juveniles under the guise of security.
Ahed, 17, was charged with 12 counts, including aggravated assault, hindering a soldier in the line of duty, incitement, threatening a soldier’s life and rock throwing. The indictment covers six incidents in recent months in which she was involved in altercations with Israeli soldiers, including the Dec. 15 slapping incident.
Some 27 American cultural figures, including actors, civil rights leaders and sports figures, signed an open letter last month calling for Ahed’s release and supporting a bill introduced late last year in the U.S. House of Representatives called the “Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act.”
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