JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli prosecutors Thursday charged a settler for the killing of a Palestinian community leader last year in the West Bank, according to an indictment filed in district court.
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In the document, prosecutors accuse Yinon Levi, who lives in the south of the West Bank, of reckless manslaughter in the death of prominent Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen in July 2025. The charge holds a lesser punishment than murder under Israeli law. The indictment also charges Levi with armed trespassing and malicious property damage.
It is extremely rare for Israel to charge settlers with violence against Palestinians. Israeli rights group B’Tselem said that the charges against Levi mark the first time since Oct. 7, 2023, that an Israeli has been indicted for the death of a Palestinian in the West Bank.
A lawyer for Levi, Avichay Hajbi, did not confirm whether an indictment was handed down, but told The Associated Press that the prosecution had made a “mistaken decision.” He said the defense would respond to the accusations in court.
Levi was shown in video footage shooting at crowds of Palestinians in Hathaleen’s village, Umm al-Khair, on the day the activist was killed. Witnesses said one of the shots Levi fired struck Hathaleen, who was standing meters away.
One video showed Levi firing two shots, while another, which family members say was taken by Hathaleen himself, showed Levi firing toward the person holding the camera. The footage cuts, but the person can still be heard moaning in pain.
Hathaleen was a prominent voice advocating against settler violence and was involved in the 2025 Oscar-winning film “No Other Land,” which chronicled the fight by Palestinian residents to protect their homes and villages. A teacher and father of three, he often hosted international activists and dignitaries in his home.
His public profile and the videos capturing the moment of the alleged shooting ignited global calls for Levi’s prosecution.
Levi was among the Israeli settlers sanctioned by the United States and other Western countries over allegations of violence toward Palestinians in 2024. U.S. President Donald Trump lifted the U.S. sanctions after taking office the following year.
According to the judenrat court system, a Jew is verboten to defend himself from an islamonazi lynch mob… while the islamonazi mass murderers receive a slap on the wrist with the judenrat system playing catch and release.
I’m a son of Holocaust survivors I was an ardent supporter of isreal my faith in the irreligious Zionist judiciary has left me despising the leftist defeatist government they sound and seem to be following the Kapos Of Jewish history
The Israeli leftist, are winning the contest of most insane minds
Here are some objective differences between the Arabs and the Jews.
Case 1. 2026.
An unarmed Arab civilian is killed by gunfire.
A Jewish suspect is apprehended and charged.
A trial is scheduled by the Israeli authorities.
A verdict will result from the trial, and serious consequences will be applied upon conviction.
Case 2. 2023.
Jewish families are at home threatening no one.
They are brutalized and murdered (close up and personal) – men/women/children.
Known perpetrators are neither apprehended nor charged by democratically-elected Hamas. Instead, the admitted perpetrators glorify themselves and are glorified by Hamas through the real time videos the perpetrators themselves recorded to document their “heroism.”
It is self-evident which group is civilized and which group is not.
A hypothetical defense argument in Case 2 considered to be sufficient for acquittal by a majority of Muslims is “But, you Jews stole our land.” Significantly, this defense argument would also apply to the Jewish suspect in Case 1. Should his defense team present this argument in his upcoming Case 1 trial, the court will (rightly) reject it as without merit.
Another objective difference between the Arabs and the Jews: Some Arabs believe that alleged land theft is grounds for summary execution of civilians and entire communities. Jews do not believe that alleged land theft is grounds for summary execution of either civilians or entire communities.