Dafna Meir, pictured with her husband, Natan. (Facebook)
JERUSALEM — The Military Court of Judea sentenced the Palestinian teenager who murdered 38-year old Dafna Meir last January at her home in Otniel to life imprisonment and ordered the man to pay 1.75 million shekels (nearly ($458,000) in damages.
On the evening of Jan. 17, 2016, the terrorist entered the settlement of Otniel, south of Hebron, through a hole in the fence.
Meir was stabbed to death at the entrance of her home while fighting off her attacker in what is believed to have been an attempt to save three of her children in the house.
She was the mother of four children and foster mother of two young children.
Her 17-year-old daughter was able to give security officials a description of the assailant, who fled after he was unable to remove the knife from Meir’s body.
The teen watched Palestinian television broadcasts that incited against Israel and said Israel was “killing young Palestinians” before he allegedly committed the crime, the Shin Bet said.
The teen returned home after the murder and spent the evening with his family watching a movie, according to the indictment.
He was arrested two days after the murder and confessed to the killing during an interrogation, the Shin Bet security service said at the time of his arrest.
He was indicted in February and convicted in May of murder and illegal possession of a weapon.
The court emphasized that the appropriate punishment for someone who committed a crime of such extraordinary brutality and in cold blood is deprivation of liberty for the rest of his life.
The court further recommended that the killer never be considered for early release.
The name of the convicted will not be released because he is a minor.
JTA contributed to this report.
