A Dutch court on Tuesday convicted five men for violently assaulting Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam last month in a terrifying Jew hunt, which forced Israelis to hide in restaurants and hotels. The Amsterdam district court found them guilty of a range of crimes from kicking and punching Israeli soccer fans on the street to inciting violence in chat groups, AFP reported. The court gave the worst offender, Sela O. who played a “leading role” in the violence only a six-month prison sentence, minus the time he already served. The short sentence was handed down despite the fact that O. was seen on videos kicking and punching Israelis on their heads and bodies. The prosecutor, who called for a two-year sentence, said O’s actions “had little to do with soccer” but claimed “there was no evidence of… a terrorist intent and the violence was not motivated by anti-Semitic sentiment.” Instead, he claimed that the “violence was influenced by the situation in Gaza.” O, who sat hunched and looking down at his hands, said he “very much regretted his presence” at the violence and that he wanted “to start a new life” with his family. “My wife is pregnant. For my family and my parents, I have decided from now on only to hang around with good people,” he said. Another suspect, Umutcan A., was given an eight-month sentence with three months suspended for beating up Israelis and posting messages online calling for a “Jew hunt.” A third suspect, Rashid O., was given a 10-week sentence for online incitement “glorifying violence against Jews,” and a fourth suspect, Karavan S., was given a one-month sentence for a similar crime. A minor suspect, Lucas D., was sentenced to 100 hours of community service. Another six suspects will be sentenced at a later date, including one suspect accused of attempted murder who is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)