Court orders delay in deciding jail term for Saber Kushour, who had consensual sex with woman who thought he was Jewish

This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

The Palestinian man convicted of raping an Israeli woman who believed he was Jewish has been released from house arrest pending his appeal.

Saber Kushour, who was sentenced to 18 months in jail last month for "rape by deception", was free to leave his home for the first time for almost two years after Israel's high court yesterday ordered a delay in implementing the prison term.

Since being released from prison two months after being charged with rape, Kushour has worn an electronic tag on his ankle which set off an alarm if he strayed beyond a tight boundary around his home in East Jerusalem.

In granting Kushour's release, the court said the circumstances of the case were unusual. "The possibility should not be ruled out that a higher court may reduce the petitioner's sentence."

Kushour yesterday took his two children shopping in a Jerusalem mall.

The case has attracted global attention. Kushour and the woman had consensual sex within 15 minutes of meeting in a West Jerusalem street around midday. Kushour told the woman his name was Dudu, a common Israeli nickname, although one that Kushour has answered to since being a small child.

The woman later realised he was an Arab and went to the police.

In convicting him, the judges said: "If the woman had not believed that the accused was a Jewish bachelor interested in a significant romantic relationship, she would not have co-operated."

Kushour admits to having claimed he was single.

The petition against his conviction states that Kushour's conduct could be considered immoral, but it is not criminal.

Kushour claims to have had messages of support from around the world. Critics of the conviction said the case was an example of racism against Arabs in Israel, and that if it had been a Jewish man passing himself off as Arab, a complaint would never have reached court.