Eden Natan-Zada

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Eden Natan-Zada (born July 9, 1986 - August 4, 2005 in Schefar'am ) was an Israeli settler and terrorist who murdered four Arab Israelis and injured 24 other inmates in a bus in Schefar'am on August 4, 2005 . He was overwhelmed by bus passengers and passers-by and beaten to death .

Earlier life

Natan-Zada's parents described their son as an intelligent and hardworking student before turning to Kahanism .

He had only become strictly religious shortly before the crime. He began by spending his weekends in the Kach stronghold of Kfar Tapuach , an Israeli settlement in the West Bank , where he probably hid from the Israeli military police after deserting the Israeli armed forces as a conscript .

In a letter, Natan-Zada disclosed his motives and stated that he could no longer serve in the army as this was an organization that expelled Jews. ' This meant Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to evacuate Gaza and some West Bank settlements .

Natan-Zada's mother later claimed that she had “begged” her son to return his weapon, 'which he took along with the uniform when he deserted.

Sequence of events

On August 4, 2005, Natan-Zada entered the Egged bus in the direction of Schefar'am. He wore his M16 assault rifle , uniform, yarmulke , sidelocks and the orange ribbon of the eviction opponents. Shortly after the bus reached Schefar'am, he shot the bus driver and then fired at the passengers. He killed two directly, one of the victims later died from the gunshot wounds. Natan-Zada was overwhelmed by passers-by and passengers and was still alive when the police arrived. The Israeli police force could not stop the angry crowd from lynching him.

The four victims were the Muslim sisters Hazar Turki and Dina Turki and two Christian men: the bus driver Michel Bahus and Nader Hayek. The day after the attack, 40,000 people attended their funerals.

Reactions

Although no group committed to the act and a representative of the radical settler movement denied any involvement, it was suspected that the attack was an attempt to torpedo Sharon's eviction plan.

Sharon himself condemned the attack as an "act by a bloodthirsty Jewish terrorist". Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Interior Minister Ophir Pines-Paz visited the relatives of the victims.

Victim compensation

Since the Israeli Victims Compensation Act was based on the fact that the perpetrator belonged to an organization that was “hostile to Israel”, Israeli Defense Minister Schaul Mofaz first decided that the victims' relatives were not entitled to any state compensation. Representatives of the Arab population of Israel condemned this, the Knesset member Mohammed Barakeh described the decision as racist because it differentiated between Arab and Jewish terrorists. At the instigation of Prime Minister Sharon, the law was changed on July 19, 2006 so that all victims of terrorist acts are treated equally. As a result of this change, the victims' families were compensated.

funeral

Natan-Zada's funeral became a political issue, as some communities refused to have him buried at their premises. Hundreds of Israelis attended his funeral. Three of them, Efraim Hershkovits, the leader of the "new Kach", the son of the former Kach activist Tiran Pollack, Gilad Pollack and Saadia Herskof were arrested.

Proceedings against those involved in the lynch

A few months after the crime, 12 residents of the village were identified by means of images and testimony and prosecuted for lynching . Five men were charged with obstruction of the executive and convicted in a settlement on social work. The other seven were charged with attempted murder, but have not yet been convicted. They did not negotiate with the prosecutor and declared themselves innocent. During a hearing in Haifa in February 2013 , protests and arrests broke out, accusing the authorities of pursuing the Arab victims instead of looking for the perpetrators of the attack.

Further findings

In 2010, suspicions were strengthened that Israeli government authorities were already aware of Natan-Zada's plans.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Israeli Government Bears Responsibility for Shfaram Massacre Kibbush.co.il, August 7, 2005
  2. ↑ a b Stephen Farrell: Israeli killer was recruited to terror over the internet , The Times. August 6, 2005. Retrieved March 29, 2009. 
  3. ↑ No group holds patent on terrorism St Petersberg Times, Susan Taylor Martin, August 9, 2005
  4. ↑ 'I will not expel Jews' Ynet News , August 5, 2005
  5. ^ A b Israel responds to Israeli terrorism ( Memento of September 3, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) The New Republic, July 10, 2005
  6. ^ Israeli police brace for possible riots
  7. ↑ Ahiye Raved: We tried to prevent lynch . Ynetnews . August 5, 2005. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
  8. ^ Greg Myre: Jewish Militant Opens Fire on Bus of Israeli Arabs, Killing 4 , The New York Times. August 5, 2005. Retrieved March 21, 2010. 
  9. ↑ PM SHARON STATEMENT on Jewish terrorist attack IMRA, August 4, 2005
  10. ↑ a b Chris McGreal : Jewish gunman was no terrorist, Israel rules . The Guardian . September 1, 2005. Retrieved February 22, 2009.
  11. ^ A b Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor : RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS . In: Israel and the occupied territories: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices . United States Department of State . March 6, 2007. Retrieved February 22, 2009: “ In 2005 in the wake of the Shfaram attack, after Eden Natan-Zada, a member of the illegal right-wing Jewish movement Kach, killed four Israeli Arabs and wounded others when he fired on a bus, then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the amendment of existing legislation which authorized compensation only for victims of terrorist actions perpetrated by regular military forces or by an organization hostile to the State of Israel or the Jewish people. On July 19, the government amended the 1970 Compensation Law for Victims of Hostile Acts to include any persons victimized by violence deriving from the Israeli-Arab conflict. Under the amended law, the Natan-Zada victims and their families were recognized as victims of terrorism and eligible for compensation. "
  12. ↑ Trial of Israeli Arabs accused of lynching Jewish terrorist disrupted by demonstration , Ha-Aretz on February 21, 2013
  13. ↑ Article in the Haaretz
personal data
SURNAME Natan-Zada, Eden
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Israeli assassin
DATE OF BIRTH July 9, 1986
DATE OF DEATH August 4, 2005
Place of death Shephar'am