Arab-Israeli man indicted for killing Jewish man after girlfriend called him ‘Jew lover’

Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Arab-Israeli man angry after his girlfriend called him a “Jew lover” killed a Jewish bus driver and wounded another visibly religious Jewish man in Haifa.

Mohammad Yusef Shinawi, 21, was indicted on Monday for the attacks that took place earlier this month. The attacks had originally been reported as criminal, but are now considered nationalistic in nature, according to the indictment, the Shin Bet security service said in a statement released Monday.

Shinawi had turned himself in to police after the attack.

Since the second Lebanon War, “the defendant’s hatred toward Jews intensified due to intermittent incidents involving Jews experienced by himself and members of his family,” the indictment states, according to the Shin Bet.

“His belief that Jews are infidels also increased, and were thus valid targets for physical harm. In the last few months prior to the events described below, his hatred intensified even further in light of additional events he experienced, and the desire for revenge became stronger,” the indictment said.

The additional event that led to the attacks was when Shinawi’s girlfriend accused him of being a “Zionist Jew” and “Jew lover.”

The attacks occurred on January 3. Guy Kafri, 47, who drove a bus service for children with special needs, was killed. Yehiel Iluz, who works one day a week in Haifa as a rabbinical judge, was injured. He also shot toward a woman in the street but missed.

Charges include premeditated murder under the Terrorism Law, attempted murder, armed activity with terrorist purposes, as well as possession of a knife, grand theft auto, and attempted robbery.

Three friends of Shinawi, including a minor, were indicted as accessories to murder.