Court adds two years to sentence of man who stole cars from Kibbutz Be'eri after Oct. 7

Judges Gilat Shalev, Itay Bresler-Gonen, and Fani Gilat Cohen accepted the state’s appeal against the original five-and-a-half-year sentence, while rejecting Haddad’s appeal.

The Beersheba District Court increased Guy Haddad’s sentence from five-and-a-half to seven-and-a-half years in prison for stealing five vehicles from Kibbutz Be’eri days after the October 7 massacre, ruling that the original punishment did not reflect the exceptional severity of the crimes.

In a decision handed down Wednesday and publicized Thursday, Judges Gilat Shalev, Itay Bresler-Gonen and Fani Gilat Cohen accepted the state’s appeal against the sentence, while rejecting Haddad’s appeal.

Haddad, the owner of a towing company, was convicted by the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court of conspiracy to commit a felony and five counts of vehicle theft following a full trial.

The court found that Haddad and another man used their work as volunteers at a logistics center established near Sde Yoav to help soldiers and residents of the Gaza border communities. That role gave them access to areas closed by the military after the Hamas attack.

On October 18 and 19, 2023, they entered Be’eri under the pretense of removing residents’ vehicles, loaded five vehicles onto tow trucks, and took them from the kibbutz. Some were later transferred to Palestinian Authority territory and could not be returned to their owners, according to the judgment. Fictitious sale documents were used for at least one vehicle.

NIS 25,000 fine and NIS 5,000 to each affected owner

The Magistrate’s Court sentenced Haddad to five-and-a-half years in prison, a suspended sentence and a NIS 25,000 fine. It also disqualified his driver’s license and ordered him to pay NIS 5,000 to each of the five vehicle owners.

Haddad argued on appeal that the evidence did not prove he had planned the thefts, that testimony against him was unreliable, and that he had received inadequate legal representation at trial. He also challenged the severity of his sentence.

The District Court rejected those arguments, saying that the trial court examined the evidence in detail and that there was no basis to overturn its factual findings or its assessment of the witnesses.

That evidence included testimony from the man who acted with Haddad, other volunteers, military and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) personnel, communications records and video footage. The judges said it established that Haddad had initiated and directed the thefts rather than merely carrying out towing work authorized by others.

The court also rejected Haddad’s claim that failures by his previous lawyer had undermined the trial. His former attorney told the appellate court that no additional witnesses whom the defense had wanted to call were left unheard, and the judges found no indication that different representation would have changed the result.

The prosecution argued that the original prison term was too lenient because Haddad had exploited both the access and the trust given to him as a volunteer.

The case was distinguished because it happened directly after Oct. 7

The District Court agreed, distinguishing the case from an ordinary vehicle theft, as the offenses were committed while Israel was still reeling from the October 7 attack, residents had been evacuated, and volunteers and security forces were working across the Gaza border area, the judges wrote.

They said the thefts harmed not only the vehicle owners but also the public trust on which emergency volunteer work depends. The court also pointed to the planning involved, the five vehicles taken over two days, and the fact that some could not be recovered.

The judges added two years to Haddad’s sentence, with credit for time already spent in custody. The suspended sentence, fine, license disqualification and compensation orders remain unchanged.