Shai Dromi ( he, שי דרומי), born 1959, is an Israeli farmer who, in an act of

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

, shot and killed an intruder and wounded another on 13 January 2007 at 3 am after discovering his dog had been poisoned, allegedly by four intruders. On 15 July 2009, he was acquitted of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

but convicted on charges of illegal possession of weapons. The rifle he had used belonged to his father and was not registered in Dromi's name. Dromi's farm is near

Meitar Meitar ( he, מֵיתָר) is a small local council north-east of Beersheba, in Israel's Southern District. The town lies on Highway 60 just south of the Green Line on the southern edge of Mount Hebron, alongside the Yatir Forest. Metar is 19 ...

in southern

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, an area plagued by property theft. In the months leading up to the incident, several other dogs had been killed and a tractor and horse stolen. Dromi testified at his trial:

“I awoke at 3 AM to the barking of the guard dog that I acquired after my dogs were poisoned. Even though I was incredibly tired, I got out of bed and walked around the house. After I went back to bed, I again heard the dog barking irregularly. I went out with my weapon and didn’t see anything. I kept walking around he perimeter of mysheep pen, and noticed large metal wire-cutters. I panicked. I realized there were men around me."

When police arrived, Dromi was administering

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

to the intruder, a

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

, Khaled el-Atrash, who later died. Dromi was arrested and imprisoned for a month and later restrained from returning to his farm afterwards requiring volunteers to continue its maintenance. A public uproar drew much attention to Dromi's plight and a law was proposed by

Member of Knesset Lists of Knesset members cover members of the Knesset of Israel. They are organized by session, by ethnicity and by position. By session * List of members of the first Knesset (1949–51) * List of members of the second Knesset (1951–55) * Lis ...

Yisrael Katz Yisrael Katz ( he, ישראל כץ, 6 December 1927 – 29 October 2010) was an Israeli scholar, civil servant and politician who served as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs. He was one of the most influential people in Israel in the creation ...

and later passed by a large majority in the Knesset. The law, commonly known as the 'Dromi Law', considers opposition to intruders as self-defence and modified the criminal law to allow repelling intruders from a house or agricultural facility if they had a criminal intent. Section 99 defined any criminal intrusion into a house as life-threatening, and classified that one does not need to retreat but section 98 defined that the law does not apply if one caused the intruders to enter the house.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dromi, Shai 1959 births Living people Israeli farmers Self-defense Defensive gun use Deaths by firearm in Israel People acquitted of manslaughter 2007 in Israel People convicted of illegal possession of weapons

See also

References