The Prison Service announced today (Friday) that the killer of the snake catcher, Yaakov Sela, prisoner Harel Hershtik, has been released under house arrest.
Sela, whose great love was the snakes, used to capture them, smuggle them to Israel, hybridize them between different species and raise them. He also used to distribute them among dozens of boys and girls who became his fans.
Hershtik, who was one of his most unsettled fans and friends, Danny Koenig, was shot to death in the rock in 1996. The gun used was by his mother, Rina Hershtik, who also raised snakes and was in love with Sela. Hershtik stole about NIS 49,000 from a rock before the murder, and when the latter discovered the theft, Hershtik promised to return the money with an interest rate of 100 percent.
After teaching Koenig to use a gun, they both persuaded Sela to join them on a trip to Haifa to return the money to him. As they stopped at the side of the road, Koenig fired three bullets at the rock, and Hershtik fired a fourth bullet into his head. Together they buried the rock, and his body was found only after two weeks by hikers who recognized a hand protruding from the ground.
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Over the years Hershtik sought to be released from prison for various reasons. In 2000 he appealed that he was the killer who shot a rock, and later asked to be released due to failed medical treatment he underwent in prison.
Advocate Lia Plus, representing Hershtik, said: “We would like to thank the Honorable Committee for its courageous decision to convey a very important message that establishes the public’s trust in general and the prisoner population in particular, according to which real, prominent and real rehabilitation and change is possible. A person.
“We would like to thank the prison authorities’ treatment and rehabilitation system, as well as the medical staff, who accompanied us on the arduous journey for many years and helped pave the way for Hershtik to return to a normative life in society. In this, I am convinced that his contribution to the population of the world and in Israel will be significant and will leave its mark forever. “