Almost 20 years later, suspect charged for murder of IDF soldiers

Terrorist who participated in murder of two IDF soldiers in 2007 arrested by Israeli forces nearly 20 years after slayings.

By World Israel News Staff

A Palestinian man was formally charged with murder by a military court last week, nearly two decades after he participated in a terror attack that killed two Israeli army soldiers in Judea and Samaria.

On December 28, 2007, three residents of Hebron – IDF soldiers David Rubin, 21, and Ahikam Amichai, 20, and Naama Ohayon, a young woman – were hiking at the Nahal Telem wadi.

The trio were suddenly attacked by a group of armed terrorists in an SUV who drove into the nature reserve with the intent of murdering Jewish hikers.

Rubin and Amichai, off-duty IDF soldiers who had their services weapons with them, managed to kill one of the attackers and injure the other shooter.

Tragically, both Rubin and Amichai were fatally wounded in the attack.

Ohayon, who was unarmed, hid during the incident and survived. She immediately called Israeli security forces; they set up a roadblock near the attack but were unable to capture the perpetrators.

Some of the terrorists involved in the attack eventually turned themselves into the Palestinian Authority, which refused to extradite them to the Israeli authorities.

It has never been clear whether all the gunmen and planners of the attack were held responsible for their involvement.

Last Thursday, the IDF’s military prosecution filed an indictment for murder against Ali Dandis, more than 17 years after the slayings occurred.

In December 2024, Dandis was arrested by Israeli security forces, including Shin Bet operatives, in Bethlehem for his role in the 2007 murders.

According to a Jerusalem Post summary of the indictment, Dandis both aided in both the attack’s planning and execution.

Prosecutors said that Dandis fired the shots that killed Rubin.

Dandis, a member of the PA’s ruling Fatah party, has worked in Sharia courts in the PA-controlled territory.

One of his accomplices, Amar Taha, was a member of the Palestinian Security Forces.