Thursday, March 29, 2018
Elder of Ziyon |
| Itamar Ben Gal and his wife |
An Arab Israeli man was charged Thursday with the murder of Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal, who was stabbed to death in a terror attack at the West Bank settlement of Ariel last month, with the indictment saying that the victim was chosen because of his appearance as a Jew.Most people would recognize someone murdering a Jew because of his kippah to be antisemitic.
On February 5, 19-year-old Abed al-Karim Assi is believed to have attacked Ben-Gal, 29, at a bus stop outside Ariel. Assi fled the scene, leading security forces on a month-long manhunt that ended with his arrest last week in the Palestinian city of Nablus.
According to the indictment filed at the Central District Court, Assi decided to commit a terror attack and kill Jews after he had an argument with an IDF soldier at a junction outside Ariel.
Later on the same day, Assi is said to have purchased two 27-centimeter-long knives at a store in Nablus and returned to the same junction, where he spotted Ben-Gal at a bus stop and recognized him as Jewish by kippa.
He then closed in on Ben-Gal and stabbed him “with great force” in his chest and abdomen, continuing to pursue his victim even after the latter attempted to flee. A passing driver noticed what was happening and hit Assi with his car, prompting him to flee the scene.
But when a Palestinian Arab does it, suddenly it is a nationalist and patriotic act. If they have any Jew-hating tendencies, well, it's understandable.
Funny how that works.
