By Jonathan Benedek/TPS
Tel Aviv (TPS) – The Tel Aviv branch of the State Attorney’s Office has filed an indictment against Omar Jandab, a resident of the Arab town of Salfit in the Binyamin region. Jandab has been charged with attempted murder and illegal residence in Israel after carrying out a stabbing attack against a soldier in Tel Aviv on May 30.
Jandab had been living within Green-line Israel without a permit from May 19 through May 30 while he worked at a construction site in Givatayim, a town east of Tel Aviv.
Jandab had informed his friends of his intentions to kill a soldier in the hopes of becoming a “shahid,” or religious martyr.
Jandab spotted a soldier at approximately 7:00 p.m. on the evening of May 30 and stabbed him at the top of his back and head with a 19-centimeter-long screwdriver, which caused the soldier to fall to the ground. The soldier was still able to fight Jandal and eventually rose to his feet. Jandab then attempted to stab the soldier again in the face, and the soldier successfully pushed Jandab away and fled the scene.
Several citizens pursued Jandab until he ran into a building. The police were then called to the scene, and Jandab was arrested.
