Trial of Rina Shnerb’s Murderers Delayed Because Terrorists Did Not Join Zoom

Nearly seven years after the murder of Rina Shnerb, her brother Dvir Shnerb is sharply criticizing the handling of the trial of the terrorists accused of carrying out the attack.

Rina Shnerb was murdered in 2019 by an explosive device planted near a spring outside Dolev, near Shilo. Her father and brother were wounded in the attack.

On Sunday, Dvir Shnerb described what he said was the latest delay in the murder trial, saying the proceedings were again disrupted by technical failures and absent defense attorneys.

“Today, in the murder trial of the terrorists who murdered Rina Shnerb, the Zoom through which the terrorists were supposed to appear was not working,” Shnerb wrote.

He said that one of the defense attorneys, Lea Tsemel, informed the court 20 minutes before the hearing that she would not attend. Another defense attorney, representing a different terrorist, said he would also not be coming because his child was not feeling well.

According to Shnerb, the attorneys were given a week to explain why they should not be punished for failing to appear, though he questioned why sanctions were not imposed immediately.

He added that the court then held a lengthy discussion about which witnesses needed to be brought and which did not, even though the attack took place almost seven years ago.

“This is what it looks like,” Shnerb wrote. “Trials that go on for years and years, which are very convenient for the Palestinian side, which is funded by the Palestinian Authority, and which take manpower from us that should be dealing with other important things.”

Shnerb argued that the situation will not change until clear rules are set for the handling of murder trials involving terrorists, along with an oversight body that can review the way such trials are managed.

He ended by thanking his mother, saying she has continued to push the issue and make sure others in Israel understand the problems facing bereaved families inside the legal process.

“Thank you to my dear mother, for whom this issue is important and who deals with it, and makes sure it becomes an issue that concerns more people in the people of Israel,” he wrote. “Maybe this will advance processes on the battlefield of the court.”