Terrorist sentenced to life, 20 years prison for 'cruel' Ori Ansbacher murder

The terrorist who raped and murdered Israeli teenager Ori Ansbacher in 2019, Arafat Irfaya, was sentenced to life in prison, another 20 years imprisonment, and fined for his crimes, the Jerusalem district court ruled on Sunday morning.

Irfaya was given a life sentence for Ansbacher's murder, and a second cumulative 20-year sentence for her rape. The defendant, who already had a violent criminal record, was also given 10 months imprisonment for illegally entering Israel.

Terrorist to compensate family, admits nationalistic motivation

The terrorist was ordered to pay compensation to the family, for whom the loss of their child has been "a difficult and unceasing struggle for the mother, father and four children of the family." The mother has been unable to return to work.

Consequently, Irfaya was sentenced to pay a quarter of a million shekels to the teenager's estate, and each of her family members NIS 75,000.

The terrorist confessed to the crimes for which he said he had committed the crimes out of nationalistic motivations. He was found guilty last month, but his defense claimed that he was not mentally competent to stand trial. This was rejected by the court.

The court described the attack on Ansbacher as particularly cruel and malicious.

According to the court, Ansbacher, 19, had gone to Jerusalem's Ein Yael Forest to listen to music and write after a day volunteering for at-risk youth, when Irfaya, a resident of Hebron, stumbled across her.

The murder and rape of Ori Ansbacher

Irfaya, had entered Israel illegally with the intent to kill a Jewish person over perceived collective crimes against Palestinians, but without a set plan. Irfaya "resolved in his heart to kill her because she was Jewish," read the ruling.

The terrorist stabbed Ansbacher multiple times, dragged her to a remote location, stuffed a scarf into her mouth to prevent her from screaming, and continued to stab her.

As the teenager lay bleeding out, Irfaya raped her. He then broke her telephone so she could not call for help and left her to die. Irfaya was caught trying to hide in a mosque near Ramallah.

Irfaya received no support from Palestinian groups for the attack. The murder shocked Israeli society and led to protests and demands to instate a death sentence for terrorists.

Calls for a death sentence for terrorists renewed Saturday night following terrorist attacks in Jerusalem that left seven dead and five injured. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir promised he would push for the death sentence.

Shurat HaDin, which represented the Ansbacher family in civil suits, said in response to the verdict that it would seek to seize monthly stipends that Irfaya could receive from the Palestinian Authority.

 "We will force him and the authority that supports his act of murder to pay a heavy price for their actions," said Shurat HaDin president Nitsana Darshan-Leitner. "The fight against terrorism must also continue along economic lines, by cutting off the oxygen pipes of terrorism."

 Yonah Jeremy Bob and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.