Criminal9/9/2026

Nine Months of Community Service Imposed for Incitement to Terrorism

The Haifa Magistrate's Court sentenced Raja Ighbaria, 74, to nine months of community service, a suspended prison sentence, and a fine. Although the judge believed that actual imprisonment was the appropriate punishment, he took into account the defendant's oncological illness and the protracted proceedings.

Key facts

•Court: Haifa Magistrate's Court
•Defendant: Raja Ighbaria, 74
•The indictment was filed in September 2018
•7 counts of incitement and 4 counts of identifying with a terrorist organization
•Sentence: 9 months of community service and a 6-month suspended prison sentence
•Fine: 10,000 shekels

Facebook Posts

Ighbaria, the former secretary-general of the Bnei al-Balad movement, was convicted of seven counts of incitement to terrorism and four counts of identifying with a terrorist organization. The convictions were based on ten public Facebook posts from 2017–2018. At the time, his account had approximately 5,000 friends and 1,600 followers, and one of the videos he posted accumulated more than 13,000 views.

What the Court Deemed Criminal

The posts included praise for the perpetrators of the July 2017 Temple Mount attack, content about the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and statements about Hezbollah and Ahmad Jarrar, a Hamas member. Judge Dr. Zaid Fallah noted that during periods of nationalist tension and violence, words can inflame passions, legitimize terrorism, and create an ideological foundation for further violence. In his view, incitement to terrorism and identifying with a terrorist organization are no longer merely expressions of opinion.

Why No Prison Sentence Was Imposed

The prosecution sought a sentence of between 16 and 40 months of actual imprisonment, a lengthy suspended prison sentence, and a substantial fine. The defense asked that the sentence be limited to community service. The court imposed nine months of community service, a six-month suspended prison sentence, and a fine of 10,000 shekels, primarily because of Ighbaria's serious health condition—he was diagnosed with cancer—and because nearly eight years had elapsed since the indictment was filed in September 2018.

The Defendant's Position and Lack of Prior Convictions

Ighbaria argued that he had not crossed the line between freedom of expression and incitement, and called the proceedings political persecution. Before sentencing, he stated that he took responsibility for every word he had written, acknowledged mistakes in some of the posts, and said that today he would phrase several of them differently. Despite previous arrests on suspicion of security offenses, he had never previously been convicted in criminal cases; the judge emphasized that this was Ighbaria's first conviction.

What this means for you

Public posts on social media may result in criminal liability if the court regards them not as political opinion, but as incitement to terrorism or identification with a terrorist organization. The size of the audience and the public nature of the account may also be significant. Serious illness, the absence of prior convictions, and an unusually prolonged proceeding may mitigate the sentence, but do not nullify the conviction.

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Case analysis based on court rulings