Hebron Arab indicted for planning stabbing attack in Jerusalem

Suleiman Kafisha was caught by police in the beginning of August with a knife and pepper spray in hand.

By: Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The prosecution filed an indictment Thursday in the Jerusalem District Court against 26-year-old Suleiman Kafisha on the charges of planning a terror attack, possession of a knife, and illegal entry, reported Arutz 7.

According to the indictment, the Hebron native wanted to kill a skullcap-wearing (Orthodox) Jew specifically in the Old City of Jerusalem. He prepared carefully for his apprently nationalistically-motivated crime, returning a cellphone he’d borrowed from his brother and throwing away the SIM card so he could not be traced by authorities.

He then put a folding knife and pepper spray in a bag with a change of clothes, intending to first incapacitate his victim with the spray before stabbing him.

On the evening of August 8th, he went to the Arab village of az-Za’ayem, three kilometers east of the capital, where he slipped through a hole in the security fence and then took a taxi to his target area. Around 11 PM, when he couldn’t find a victim to his linking after walking around for two hours, he started searching for a place to spend the night, so he could try again the next day.

Around 12:15 AM policemen on patrol saw him near Damascus Gate. He aroused their suspicion and they searched his bag, at which time he tried to escape but was caught after a short chase. He admitted his attack plan during his interrogation.

Just last Friday, an Arab Israeli from Umm al-Fahm attempted to stab a policeman in Jerusalem’s Old City near the Temple Mount and was shot dead. His funeral on Monday attracted at least 1,500 people according to Channel 2 News, and many waved Palestinian flags and shouted anti-Israel slogans such as “In spirit and blood we shall avenge the shahid.”

Since Israel’s anti-terrorism law states that terrorists’ funerals must be limited to 150 people and cannot violate public order, the police have opened an investigation and the family may have to forfeit a NIS 50,000 deposit it provided to ensure its compliance with the law.