Abed al-Karim Adel Assi, the terrorist who stabbed 29-year-old Rabbi Itamar Ben Gal in February, was indicted by Israel’s Central District Attorney’s Office on Thursday.
Assi carried out the stabbing near the entrance to Ariel in Samaria on Feb. 5. Ben Gal is survived by his wife, Miriam, and their four children.
Assi was indicted for committing an ideologically and nationalistically motivated terror attack when it was discovered that he selected Ben Gal as his victim when he saw him wearing a kipah and religious-looking attire.
Assi walked up to and stabbed Ben Gal in the stomach and chest as he waited at a hitchhiking post on his way home to Har Bracha. Ben Gal managed to flee to a bus after the attack, but then collapsed. It was determined that Assi intended to continue the attack, but was hit by an IDF officer who saw the attack and rammed him with his car. Nonetheless, Assi was able to escape with the help of an accomplice; a prolonged manhunt resulted in Assi’s capture a month-and-a-half later.
Just the day before, the terrorist confronted a group of Kfir soldiers and told them, “I remember your faces, you bi***s.” The soldiers stopped Assi, but released him after seeing that he was carrying an Israeli ID card.
Assi confessed to the crime and via Facebook took responsibility for the murder.
