Life sentence in Yelena Greenberg z"l murder case

The Lod District Court sentenced Jason Odeh to life in prison Wednesday for the 2022 murder of Yelena Greenberg z"l, 27, in Rehovot. The court also ordered him to pay the family maximum compensation of 258,000 shekels.

Odeh was convicted after a full trial on charges of murder under aggravating circumstances. Prosecutors Hind Nabulsi, Efrat Paar-Grundland and Shachaf Kleinman of the Central District Attorney's Office, who handled the case, said after sentencing: "The court today imposed a sentence of life imprisonment, which is the mandatory sentence for a brutal, premeditated murder of a woman."

Odeh and Greenberg z"l had known each other for about four years. During that time, Odeh repeatedly asked her to be in a relationship with him. She refused each time.

The court stated in its sentencing decision that "the defendant brutally cut short the life of Yelena Greenberg, a young woman of 27 with her whole future ahead of her... The act of murder was severe and merciless - the defendant attacked the deceased in a vehicle and stabbed her more than 10 times with a sharp knife he had purchased and prepared in advance, until she died."

H thene transported her body to an isolated location, poured a large quantity of petrol he had prepared in advance over it, and came within a step of setting the body on fire. His clothes were soaked with the victim's blood, which had also sprayed throughout his vehicle.

The court added that "the defendant showed no mercy to the deceased even after her death. He left her lying in a dirt field covered in her own blood and full of burns from the fuel he poured, took from her all means of identification, and disposed of her personal belongings that were her whole world, her bag, mobile phone and computer."

The prosecution emphasised that "the defendant's conviction and sentence express the extreme severity of the act of murder and send a message that such acts must be condemned and that the sanctity of life must be protected. The prosecution will continue its uncompromising fight against violence in general and against women in particular, and will act to bring those responsible to full justice."

Attorney Rotem Aloni, representing the family through the Justice Ministry's legal aid service, said: "Today the sentence the family has been waiting four years for was finally handed down. This is a murderer who exploited the legal process to continue inflicting pain on the family, and used every right or loophole to drag out the proceedings, despite having admitted to the acts already during the police investigation."

Aloni added: "For the family, this prolonged ordeal was unbearable, and now the family will need to find the strength to move forward, alongside the memory of and longing for Yelena z"l."

The court ruled that "the defendant murdered the deceased simply because she did not respond to him and made him feel rejected and frustrated."