The Justice Ministry and state prosecutors have consistently declared that they are determined to combat the hate crime phenomenon known as "price tag" attacks, but a recent plea bargain accepted in the case of four teenage boys who were given a light sentence for setting fire to a Palestinian café indicates otherwise.

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The Jerusalem District Court approved a plea bargain on Monday in the case of four teenage boys from Arad and the West Bank who admitted to setting fire to a Palestinian café near Hebron.

As part of the indictment, the prosecution had requested the teenagers receive a six-month sentence; however, the court sentenced them to three months of community service.

The teens were arrested in September 2014 and investigators presented video footage which depicted the four teens running away with their faces covered after they set fire to a Palestinian café in the village of Dura, south of Hebron, and spray painted the word "revenge" on the front door of the establishment.

Site where Israeli teens set fire to Palestinian cafe. (Photo: Police Spokesman)

After their arrest, the four teens were charged with incitement and destruction of land with racist motives.

According to the indictment, the teens had planned to damage the café ahead of time. It was also noted that they arrived at the scene with their faces covered, set fire to couches and armchairs and caused heavy damages to the electrical system and perimeter fence of the café.

During the trial, the teens' attorneys argued that the act was done because the accused had suspected that residents of Dura had set fire to a entertainment complex in Beit El – a settlement in the central West Bank.

The perpetrators documented after the attack

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The parties then reached an agreement on a plea bargain in which the prosecution waived the initial charges of racism and destruction of land. Instead, it was agreed that the teens be charged with one count of arson and that they would only be sentenced to community service.

The prosecution argued that the teens should be sentenced to six months of community service as they had sought revenge and because the act endangered life.

On the other hand, the teens' attorneys argued that the boys did not break the law but rather "were simply teens that had their hangout spot burned and decided to get revenge by burning a similar hang out spot in the village from which the accused thought the original arsons came from."

The teens' attorneys also claimed that they did not pose a threat to anyone's life.

The judge, Shirly Renner, said that it was a serious offense that could cause high risk to human life and expressed her surprise as to why the boys chose that specific café while they did not know if the owner was involved in the arson at Beit El.

On the other hand, the judge noted the teenagers' clean past and their admission.

In view of the plea bargain, the judge sentenced the boys to three months of community service, a year of probation and a fine of 500 shekels to be paid to the owners of the café they torched.