BySARAH BEN-NUN

JULY 12, 2026 13:25

On Sunday the Tel Aviv District Court handed Amit Almog a 25-year prison term for killing his girlfriend Maya Vishniak. The ruling ends a prominent Israeli matter that began with the 22-year-old's death in 2020 and stretched through more than six years of court action.

The three-judge bench led by President Judge Gilad Neuthall added suspended terms and directed Almog to pay NIS 258,000 to Vishniak's relatives, split evenly among her parents and three siblings.

The outcome closely followed the prosecution's stance under a plea deal finalized late last year. Prosecutors had requested 26 years while the defense could seek a reduced term.

Under the accord Almog confessed to intentional murder and dropped earlier assertions of legal insanity or diminished responsibility. The deal still allowed modest consideration of his mental state and cannabis consumption at the time without lowering his accountability for the deliberate killing.

Per the updated charges Vishniak came to Almog's family residence in Ramat Gan on May 16, 2020, after they planned the visit the prior day. Once his sister departed he resolved to end her life. He directed her to lie sideways, then strangled her and covered her mouth during her resistance before maintaining pressure on her neck until asphyxiation occurred.

The panel further observed that Almog promptly recorded Vishniak's body and himself singing while tossing banknotes onto her remains, then forwarded the clip to an acquaintance through WhatsApp.

'The murder gravely violated the sanctity of life,' the court said

When setting the penalty the judges noted the killing gravely breached life's sanctity and highlighted Almog's misuse of trust in the couple's romantic bond. They also cited the profound ongoing effect on Vishniak's relatives whose impact statements were received privately and stay under reporting restrictions.

The bench placed the fitting penalty range at 25 years to life before applying the lowest term in that span. They referenced the plea arrangement plus mitigating elements such as Almog's eventual guilty plea, clean record, youth, mental health and continuous detention since his May 2020 arrest.

After the decision relatives directed shouts at Almog including "May you die in prison," per media accounts.

Maya's father Ariel Vishniak stated the court delivered the strictest term permitted by law.

"The court gave the maximum it could give," he said. "We will carry this for the rest of our lives. This is not something that disappears; it will never disappear."

Her brother Ron noted the court conveyed strong disapproval of the crime as a clear signal against the killing of women and violence broadly. "It won't bring our Maya back, but at least we know her murderer will remain in prison for many years."

Her sister Shira indicated the family now faces "a difficult chapter of our lives."

"Maya was supposed to be 28. Her whole life was ahead of her," she said. "We finished one chapter of six years, and now we begin the hard chapter of our lives - living without Maya, mourning her, missing her, and continuing to live alongside her absence."

Prosecutor Oren Paz observed the term largely matched the prosecution's view and voiced hope it would bring the family "some measure of relief and comfort" after prolonged proceedings.

"The family accompanied the legal process throughout, enduring difficult hearings and listening to Almog's attempts to persuade the court that he committed the murder while insane and should therefore be acquitted," Paz said. "Now, after admitting that he intentionally murdered Maya, he will never again be able to claim otherwise."

Paz added that the family's steady involvement ensured "Maya's voice was heard powerfully" and confirmed the prosecution would keep addressing intimate-partner violence cases "out of commitment to the fight against violence against women and to securing justice for victims and their families."