In one of those incidents, Benny Lugasi reportedly put a table, chairs and boards in the
entryway of the building and set them on fire. He tried to stop
residents from putting it out, and told them, “I’ll bring a knife and
finish you off ... You Sudanese, I’ll burn you, I’ll show you what’s
what.” In another, he threatened to "burn all the Ethiopians in the building.”
Haifa Man Who Threatened To Burn Ethiopian Jews Sentenced To 4 Years In Prison
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
A Haifa man convicted of arson and of making threats against Ethiopian Jews was sentenced earlier today to four years in prison, Ha’aretz reported.
37-year-old Benny Lugasi was also ordered to pay the complaining victim $1,938 in compensation.
Lugasi reportedly threatened Ethiopian Jewish residents of his mother's Haifa apartment building three separate times last year.
In one of those incidents, Lugasi put a table, chairs and boards in the entryway of the building and set them on fire. He tried to stop residents from putting it out, and told them, “I’ll bring a knife and finish you off ... You Sudanese, I’ll burn you, I’ll show you what’s what,” in an apparent reference to non-Jewish African refugees who have sought refuge in Israel.
In another incident, he threatened to burn the Ethiopian Jews. “You Ethiopians, I’ll set you on fire,” he reportedly threatened.
In the third incident, Lugasi set both the wheel of one resident’s car and a nearby trash can on fire and said, “I’ll burn all the Ethiopians in the building.”
According to Ha’aretz, Judge Diana Sela ruled that Lugasi’s motive appeared to be “pure hatred and racism, something that must be completely uprooted. [This is especially important in Israel] which is supposed to provide a home for all Jews, whoever they are. [Therefore it is necessary to impose a sentence to] “deter both the defendant and others,” she ruled, adding that Lugasi’s behavior endangered residents of the building and of neighboring buildings, along with damaging both private and public property.
Lugasi was drunk when each of the incidents occurred. But that does not mitigate his crimes, Sela ruled.
Sela reportedly urged the Israel Prison Service to put Lugasi in a rehabilitation program for alcoholics if possible.