The family of Yemenu Zalka, murdered by teenagers on Independence Day, testified at a special Knesset committee hearing on zero tolerance for youth violence. The sister and mother accused the justice system of shielding violent youth, asking at what point perpetrators stopped being minors.
The family of Yemenu Zalka, a 19-year-old murdered by a group of teenagers during Independence Day celebrations in Petah Tikva, delivered a devastating indictment of Israel's law enforcement and justice systems at a special Knesset committee hearing today.
Yeros Zalka, the victim's sister, accused the legal system of shielding the perpetrators, asking: "At what point were they minors? When they threatened to murder? When they planned revenge and came back especially to carry it out? What killed Yemenu — just the knife, or the reality that allowed teenagers to walk around armed?" Activists accompanying the family described the grieving mother sitting alone on court benches, weeping, as the hearing unfolded.
The hearing, convened under the banner of 'zero tolerance' for youth violence, follows the brutal stabbing of Zalka on Independence Day. The family's testimony underscores a broader societal crisis regarding the treatment of juvenile offenders in cases of extreme violence, with questions being raised about whether the legal system's age protections are being misapplied. As The Zioneer previously reported (June 21), a central suspect in the case changed his Instagram handle to 'anonymous' after being exposed and receiving threats.
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