Four Israeli Arabs were found guilty of attempted manslaughter in the death of an Israel Defense Forces soldier who opened fire on a packed bus in the northern town of Shfaram in August 2005.
Eden Natan-Zada, 19, who was AWOL at the time of the attack, shot dead four people and wounded 17 others before he was pulled from the bus by police and then allegedly beaten to death by a crowd who seized him after he had been handcuffed.
Haifa District Court also found two others out of the seven defendants guilty of aggravated assault, while the seventh was convicted of attacking police officers. All seven were found not guilty of attempted murder.
Zada was wearing his IDF uniform when he opened fire on the bus with his army-issued M-16. During the melee, five policemen were also hurt as they tried to prevent the crowd from storming the bus and throwing metal objects and bottles.
Following the attack, leaders in the Israeli Arab community called on the police not to investigate the lynching aspect of Natan-Zada's death, saying that those involved acted in self-defense. Photographic evidence, however, seemed to indicate that he was beaten to death after he had already been subdued and handcuffed by police.
Five others who had been charged in the case had struck a plea bargain deal with prosecutors, and received community service for attacking police officers.