Israel Says Bedouin Citizen Carried Out Bus Attack That Killed Soldier
By ISABEL KERSHNER
New York Times
OCT. 19, 2015
JERUSALEM — The gunman who carried out a deadly attack at a bus station in southern Israel over the weekend was a Bedouin Arab citizen of Israel from the area, the Israeli authorities said on Monday. Bedouins have rarely been involved in armed attacks in Israel, so the development highlighted the unpredictable and spiraling nature of the current wave of attacks across th country.
The bus station attack drew a violent reaction that was also roiling Israel on Monday, after the death of an Eritrean asylum seeker who was apparently mistaken for a second assailant. The Eritrean, identified by the police as Haftom Zarhum, 29, was shot by a security guard in the chaos immediately after the attack, and was then viciously beaten by a mob. He later died of his wounds.
Graphic video images of the beating appeared to show people kicking Mr. Zarhum and hurling a chair and a bench at his head as he lay injured on the ground.
The commander of the Negev police, Amnon Kalai, said on Monday that detectives were trying to find the people who took part in the beating. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel warned that “nobody may take the law into their own hands.”
An Eritrean asylum seeker who was apparently mistaken for an assailant was shot by a security guard in Beersheva, Israel, and beaten by a mob. The man, identified in the news media as Haftom Zarhum, later died. Credit Dudu Grunshpan/Associated Press
The popular Hebrew newspaper Yediot Aharonot wrote that Mr. Zarhum had been running from danger, and was suspected of being an attacker “just because of the color of his skin.”
The Bedouin gunman killed an Israeli soldier, Sgt. Omri Levi, 19, at the bus station.
As diplomatic efforts began to try to rein in the violence, Secretary of State John Kerry said in Madrid on Monday that “clarity” was needed regarding the arrangements at a contested holy site in Jerusalem that is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.
Apparently backing Israel’s assertions that it is not seeking any change at the site, and rejecting the idea of an international presence there, Mr. Kerry said, “We don’t contemplate any change, but nor does Israel.”
According to The Associated Press, he added: “Israel understands the importance of that status quo. What is important is to make sure everybody understands what that means.”
A dispute over the site, home to Al Aqsa Mosque and Islam’s sacred Dome of the Rock shrine, has helped fan the recent surge in Israeli-Palestinian violence and exacerbated tensions among the Arab minority in Israel.
Palestinian leaders have called for an international protection force at the contested Al Aqsa compound, and officials say France has been pressing for a United Nations proposal that would include the presence of international observers at the compound.
The Palestinians have accused Israel of Jewish encroachment and of plotting to divide the site, which is administered by an Islamic trust under Jordanian auspices. Israel vehemently denies the charges. Under the current arrangement, Israel is in charge of overall security, and non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound but not to pray there.
Mr. Kerry said that Israel, Jordan and the United States opposed the idea of an international presence.
“We are not seeking some new change. We are not seeking outsiders or others to come in,” Mr. Kerry said, according to The A.P. “We need to have clarity.”
Mr. Kerry is expected to meet in Berlin this week with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and later with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
But the estranged Israeli and Palestinian leaders seem far from reconciliation. Mr. Netanyahu has accused Mr. Abbas of blatantly lying and helping to foment the violence against Israelis.
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday that the Palestinians welcomed the French initiative for international observers.
“We know that Israel is changing the status quo in Haram al-Sharif,” she said, using an Arabic name for the sacred compound. “They say no they’re not.”
International observers, she added, could perhaps “start holding Israel accountable.”
The suspect in the central bus station attack in Beersheba on Sunday, identified as Muhannad al-Okbi, 21, is from the Hura area of the Negev Desert, a few miles east of Beersheba. Mr. Okbi’s mother came from the Palestinian coastal territory of Gaza and was entitled to residency in Israel under a family reunification clause by virtue of her marriage to an Arab citizen of Israel, according to Shin Bet, Israel’s security agency.
Members of Israel’s Bedouin population have rarely been involved in political or sectarian violence. Many Bedouins have volunteered to serve in the Israeli military, despite a deep and longstanding land dispute between the Bedouin citizens of the Negev and the state authorities that has contributed to renewed tensions in recent years.
The police said that Mr. Okbi had entered the bus station on Sunday evening with a pistol and a knife; fatally shot a soldier, Sgt. Omri Levi, 19; and grabbed his weapon.
The assailant continued firing, wounding several other soldiers, as well as police officers and civilians, before he was shot by the police as he tried to flee.
Eight Israelis have been killed in about 30 attacks this month, mostly carried out by Palestinians armed with knives, although a few cases have involved guns. At least 18 suspects have been killed at the scene.
In clashes with Israeli security forces this month, more than 20 Palestinians have also been fatally shot.
Many of the attacks have been perpetrated by Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, and more than half have taken place inside the city.
Bedouin leaders have condemned the Beersheba attack. “We utterly and unreservedly condemn this despicable act and reject violence of any sort,” Mohammed Alnabari, the mayor of the Bedouin town of Hura, said in a statement. “We condemn this act on behalf of the entire Bedouin society and wish to make clear that you cannot be both a terrorist and a citizen of the country; the two are inherently contradictory.”
Jodi Rudoren contributed reporting from Ramallah, West Bank.
New York Times
OCT. 19, 2015
JERUSALEM — The gunman who carried out a deadly attack at a bus station in southern Israel over the weekend was a Bedouin Arab citizen of Israel from the area, the Israeli authorities said on Monday. Bedouins have rarely been involved in armed attacks in Israel, so the development highlighted the unpredictable and spiraling nature of the current wave of attacks across th country.
The bus station attack drew a violent reaction that was also roiling Israel on Monday, after the death of an Eritrean asylum seeker who was apparently mistaken for a second assailant. The Eritrean, identified by the police as Haftom Zarhum, 29, was shot by a security guard in the chaos immediately after the attack, and was then viciously beaten by a mob. He later died of his wounds.
Graphic video images of the beating appeared to show people kicking Mr. Zarhum and hurling a chair and a bench at his head as he lay injured on the ground.
The commander of the Negev police, Amnon Kalai, said on Monday that detectives were trying to find the people who took part in the beating. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel warned that “nobody may take the law into their own hands.”
An Eritrean asylum seeker who was apparently mistaken for an assailant was shot by a security guard in Beersheva, Israel, and beaten by a mob. The man, identified in the news media as Haftom Zarhum, later died. Credit Dudu Grunshpan/Associated Press
The popular Hebrew newspaper Yediot Aharonot wrote that Mr. Zarhum had been running from danger, and was suspected of being an attacker “just because of the color of his skin.”
The Bedouin gunman killed an Israeli soldier, Sgt. Omri Levi, 19, at the bus station.
As diplomatic efforts began to try to rein in the violence, Secretary of State John Kerry said in Madrid on Monday that “clarity” was needed regarding the arrangements at a contested holy site in Jerusalem that is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.
Apparently backing Israel’s assertions that it is not seeking any change at the site, and rejecting the idea of an international presence there, Mr. Kerry said, “We don’t contemplate any change, but nor does Israel.”
According to The Associated Press, he added: “Israel understands the importance of that status quo. What is important is to make sure everybody understands what that means.”
A dispute over the site, home to Al Aqsa Mosque and Islam’s sacred Dome of the Rock shrine, has helped fan the recent surge in Israeli-Palestinian violence and exacerbated tensions among the Arab minority in Israel.
Palestinian leaders have called for an international protection force at the contested Al Aqsa compound, and officials say France has been pressing for a United Nations proposal that would include the presence of international observers at the compound.
The Palestinians have accused Israel of Jewish encroachment and of plotting to divide the site, which is administered by an Islamic trust under Jordanian auspices. Israel vehemently denies the charges. Under the current arrangement, Israel is in charge of overall security, and non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound but not to pray there.
Mr. Kerry said that Israel, Jordan and the United States opposed the idea of an international presence.
“We are not seeking some new change. We are not seeking outsiders or others to come in,” Mr. Kerry said, according to The A.P. “We need to have clarity.”
Mr. Kerry is expected to meet in Berlin this week with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and later with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
But the estranged Israeli and Palestinian leaders seem far from reconciliation. Mr. Netanyahu has accused Mr. Abbas of blatantly lying and helping to foment the violence against Israelis.
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday that the Palestinians welcomed the French initiative for international observers.
“We know that Israel is changing the status quo in Haram al-Sharif,” she said, using an Arabic name for the sacred compound. “They say no they’re not.”
International observers, she added, could perhaps “start holding Israel accountable.”
The suspect in the central bus station attack in Beersheba on Sunday, identified as Muhannad al-Okbi, 21, is from the Hura area of the Negev Desert, a few miles east of Beersheba. Mr. Okbi’s mother came from the Palestinian coastal territory of Gaza and was entitled to residency in Israel under a family reunification clause by virtue of her marriage to an Arab citizen of Israel, according to Shin Bet, Israel’s security agency.
Members of Israel’s Bedouin population have rarely been involved in political or sectarian violence. Many Bedouins have volunteered to serve in the Israeli military, despite a deep and longstanding land dispute between the Bedouin citizens of the Negev and the state authorities that has contributed to renewed tensions in recent years.
The police said that Mr. Okbi had entered the bus station on Sunday evening with a pistol and a knife; fatally shot a soldier, Sgt. Omri Levi, 19; and grabbed his weapon.
The assailant continued firing, wounding several other soldiers, as well as police officers and civilians, before he was shot by the police as he tried to flee.
Eight Israelis have been killed in about 30 attacks this month, mostly carried out by Palestinians armed with knives, although a few cases have involved guns. At least 18 suspects have been killed at the scene.
In clashes with Israeli security forces this month, more than 20 Palestinians have also been fatally shot.
Many of the attacks have been perpetrated by Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, and more than half have taken place inside the city.
Bedouin leaders have condemned the Beersheba attack. “We utterly and unreservedly condemn this despicable act and reject violence of any sort,” Mohammed Alnabari, the mayor of the Bedouin town of Hura, said in a statement. “We condemn this act on behalf of the entire Bedouin society and wish to make clear that you cannot be both a terrorist and a citizen of the country; the two are inherently contradictory.”
Jodi Rudoren contributed reporting from Ramallah, West Bank.
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