Israeli cop who beat Palestinian teen gets light sentence

JERUSALEM

An Israeli police officer who severely beat a Palestinian-American teen last year has been sentenced to 45 days of community service, Israeli media reported Thursday.

The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court said there was "no justification" for the force used by the officer against Tariq Abu Khdeir, 15, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

The officer, who has not been publicly identified, serves in Israel’s paramilitary border police, who are frequently deployed alongside police in Jerusalem.

Even though the officer was found guilty of severely beating the boy while the latter was handcuffed, the court only sentenced him to community service -- a punishment many observers saw as exceptionally lenient.

"Israeli policeman given community service for savage beating of Palestinian-American teen Tariq Khdeir last year," Rania Khalek, an editor for pro-Palestinian blog Electronic Intifada, tweeted.

"The beating was caught on film," she added. "Tariq was punched and dragged until he passed out. His face was unrecognizable."

The incident occurred during a demonstration held in 2014 against the killing of Khdeir’s cousin, Mohamed Abu Khdeir, who was abducted and burned to death by Jewish settlers.