‘No one should be behave this way, even in anger,’ says defense minister in response to ‘lynching’ of Haftom Zarhum, 29, after Beersheba terror attack
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Monday called to bring to justice those who took part in the brutal beating of an Eritrean asylum seeker after he was mistaken for a terrorist during the terror attack in Beersheba Sunday night, and was first shot by a security guard.
“We must bring the attackers to justice. No one should behave this way, even when there is great anger and sadness,” he said.
Eritrean national Haftom Zarhum, 29, died in Beersheba’s Soroka Hospital, where he was treated after being shot by a security guard who thought he was a terrorist, and then beaten by a mob. Videos from the incident showed him fleeing the scene, only to be gunned down and then kicked repeatedly in the head by a crowd in the bus station.
Officials at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba said he died from a combination of the bullet wound and the subsequent beating by the mob
An IDF soldier was killed and 11 others were wounded in the terror attack at the Beersheba Central Bus Station Sunday night when an Israeli Beduin man launched a shooting and stabbing spree, the latest in a spate of near-deadly attacks on Israelis by mainly Palestinian assailants. So far, only one other attack — out of 35 since October 1 — was perpetrated by an Arab citizen of Israel.
“We know how to fight ‘lone-wolf’ terrorism, and we will over come it,” Ya’alon said, adding that “the integration of Israeli Arabs into Israeli society should continue, and that we mustn’t engage in a dialogue of hate or incitement against them, despite efforts by some politicians to divide and provoke.”
Ya’alon was echoing comments made earlier Monday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who chastised the attackers of the Eritrean asylum seeker.
“Someone who witnesses a [terror] attack needs to leave the scene and allow security and rescue forces to work,” Netanyahu said at the start of a Likud faction meeting in the Knesset on Monday. “We’re a nation of laws. No one may take the law into their hands. That’s the first rule.”
Netanyahu’s and Ya’alon’s comments followed harsher censure by Israeli media and the top police commander in Israel’s south.
“A line has been crossed where we went from a state of alert and responsiveness to a state where we lashed out — we can say lynched — and hurt someone who’s wounded,” said Southern District police chief Yoram Halevi. “Even if [the victim] is the attacker, there’s no right to hurt him.”
Police said in a statement that they viewed the incident as “very grave” and that they “will not allow [citizens] to take the law into their hands.”
Negev regional police chief Amnon Alkalai ordered that the civilians who beat Zarhum be located, and police promised to launch a full criminal investigation into the killing.
In a statement, police called for “everyone to act with restraint and extra caution and allow the police to perform their duty.”
One of the people who took part in the beating of Zarhum, identified only as Dudu, told Army Radio in an interview Monday morning that “I saw people coming and crowding around him. I understood from them that this was the terrorist.
“If I had known that this wasn’t the terrorist I would have protected him like I protect myself,” Dudu said. “In a moment of fear and pressure, you do things you’re not conscious of whatsoever.”
He added, “I didn’t sleep well last night and I only thought about those things, I feel disgusting.”
As reported by The Times of Israel