Israeli Cab Driver Convicted of Assisting Suicide Bomber in Christmas Day

[demdave]

JERUSALEM (AP) - An Israeli cab driver was convicted Thursday of involuntary manslaughter for unwittingly driving a Palestinian suicide bomber to the site of a Christmas Day attack.

Ofer Shwartzboim was arrested in January, weeks after a Dec. 25 suicide bombing killed four Israelis at a bus stop near Tel Aviv. Investigators determined Shwartzboim transported the bomber to the area for $22.


---snip---


He said the men had ordered a taxi from a nearby Arab-Israeli town near the boundary with the West Bank. During the short ride, they told him they were going to get money from an employer and did not have permits to be in Israel, according to a statement from the Israeli prime minister's office issued at the time.

Shwartzboim told interrogators he often drove illegal Palestinian workers into Israel, the prime minister's office said. It is illegal to assist Palestinians without permits to enter the country. The law is aimed at preventing suicide attacks.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAYA9U0XTD.html

[markses]

1. The interesting point here being

That the practice (of driving sans papiers from the occupied territories into Israel proper) must be fairly common.