Eilat Sex Offender Receives Reduced Sentence After Victim Leaves Country
A Beersheba court sentenced an Eilat sex offender to seven months in prison under a plea bargain after the victim left the country, reducing initial rape charges.
A plea bargain in the Beersheba District Court resulted in a seven-month prison sentence for Amitai Ashtamkar, 47, of Eilat, who was originally indicted for raping a woman in Eilat and violating a supervision order. The original indictment detailed a severe assault during which police had to forcefully enter the apartment while the assault was ongoing. The prosecution agreed to amend the charges after the victim left the country and refused to return to testify.
The case began in September 2025 when the Southern District Prosecutor's Office filed charges against Ashtamkar for rape, indecent acts, assault, violating a supervision order, and obstructing a police officer. According to the indictment, Ashtamkar arrived at an apartment where the woman worked, seized her phone, demanded compliance, and proceeded to rape and violently assault her. The victim's pimp contacted emergency services after hearing the commotion.
When police officers arrived at the scene and demanded entry, the defendant continued his assault inside. Officers were forced to call firefighters to breach the fortified door as Ashtamkar leaned against it to block them. Upon breaching the room, police pursued the suspect into a bedroom and deployed a taser to subdue him. Investigators later recovered a used condom and DNA evidence at the scene, while the defendant claimed he had merely ordered a routine massage and that a financial dispute had ensued.
Background checks revealed that Ashtamkar is a convicted sex offender with a lengthy criminal record encompassing sex crimes, sodomy, multiple supervision order violations, and assaulting a public servant. The prosecution initially sought detention until the conclusion of proceedings. However, as the evidentiary phase approached, the victim departed Israel and repeatedly refused to return for court proceedings.
Faced with evidentiary hurdles without the primary witness, the prosecution entered mediation and ultimately agreed to an amended indictment. Ashtamkar pleaded guilty to consuming prostitution services and violating a supervision order, receiving a seven-month prison term alongside the activation of a suspended sentence, totaling nine months behind bars and a 2,000 shekel fine. A judicial panel comprising Vice President Yoel Eden, Yuval Libdru, and Rachel Thoren approved the agreement.
Defense attorneys Alexi Galpant and Eyal Lavavi from the Public Defender's Office stated: Protesting his innocence from day one, our client regrets not having a genuine opportunity to prove it in court, yet under the circumstances, he feels a degree of justice has been served. The prosecution issued a statement explaining: We clarified to the complainant that her testimony was central to proving the charges. Once it became clear she would not return, the prosecution was forced to reassess the case, and the negotiated plea agreement represented the optimal legal outcome under the evidentiary constraints.
