Reuven Shmerling's murderers, Yavne terrorist convicted
Lod District Court convicts 2 Palestinians for murder of Reuven Shmerling before Sukkot last year; Palestinian who stabbed assistant manager at Yavne supermarket August of last year, seriously wounding him, also convicted of attempted murder.
The Lod District Court convicted Sunday Youssef Kamil and Mohamad Abu al-Roub of the murder of Elkana resident Reuven Shmerling in Kafr Qasim last year, to which they confessed as part of a plea deal. The court also convicted Ismail Abu Aram of attempted murder under terror-related circumstances for the stabbing attack at a Yavne supermarket last year.
According to the amended indictment that Shmerling's murderers were charged with, the two—residents of the town of Qabatiya located in the Jenin Governorate in the northern West Bank—entered Israel illegally as laborers in September, 2017.
Kamil intended to use his time in Israel for a stabbing attack against Jews, and suggested for Abu al-Roub to join him in this endeavor, but the latter initially declined.
The pair then purchased a butcher's knife, which Kamil hid in the warehouse under a mattress in the room in which they were staying. In addition, to ensure they would be able to escape Israel after the murder, they obtained a phone number of a person able to drive them from Kafr Qasim to their previous residence.
Later, as part of their joint to decision to plot the nationalistic murder of a Jew, and on the backdrop of feelings of resentment towards the deceased, the two settled on murdering Shmerling.
On October 4, Shmerling arrived at the warehouse where the attack took place and knocked on the door. When the terrorists opened it to let him in, they were reprimanded for only being "good at sleeping and eating."
Against a background of disputes, the two had already resolved that Shmerling would be their victim. Kamil was asked by Shmerling to load a forklift battery onto his vehicle. After doing so, Kamil returned to the room when the two decided to carry out the attack.
According to the plan detailed in the indictment, the two culprits agreed that Abu al-Roub would lead Shmerling into the room pretending that the fridge was broken and distract him while Kamil would stab him with the 18-inch knife they had purchased.
Kamil called the driver and had him come to pick them up, to ensure they would be able to escape immediately after the murder. Shortly thereafter, while Shmerling was checking the fridge, Kamil pulled out the knife from the mattress and stabbed Shmerling behind his left shoulder.
In an attempt to defend himself, Shmerling picked up a chair in the room and hit Kamil with it in the leg. Abu al-Roub then pushed Shmerling and beat him around the head with a fan nearby while Kamil continued to stab him repeatedly in his stomach, chest and elsewhere.
Abu al-Roub then left the room and returned shortly after with a pickax by the door and stuck Shmerling with it in the stomach.
The indictment highlights that due to the knife bending in the process of the attack, Kamil threw it on the floor and took the pickax from al-Roub and used it to strike Shmerling in the head.
Abu al-Roub then entered the shower room where he changed his clothes while Kamil photographed Shmerling on his cellphone before he also took a shower and changed his clothes. Afterwards, the two left Shmerling lying in a pool of blood and fled the scene.
In an effort to conceal their crimes and destroy the evidence, the two terrorists smashed their phones and threw them away.
The plea agreement—reached with the consent of the victim's family—was minorly amended on two facts pertaining to actions taken by the defendants after the murder.
Sunday, before a panel of judges chaired by Judge Avraham Tal, the two defendants admitted to all charges attributed to them in the amended indictment and were convicted by the court. Their sentence will be pronounced at a later date.
Yavne supermarket terrorist also convicted
The Lod court also convicted Ismail Abu Aram, 20, of the town of Yatta near Hebron, of the attempted murder of an assistant manager of a Yavne supermarket in early August of last year.
Abu Aram seriously wounded Niv Nehamia, then assistant manager of the supermarket, the indictment said. the terrorist admitted to the attack Sunday and will be sentenced at a later date.
The indictment, served by the Central District Attorney's Office, said the terrorist was inspired and encouraged to uphold the edit of "jihad against the Jewish-Israeli occupation."
As part of his religious awakening, the defendant performed "umrah" (a pilgrimage to Mecca—ed) during the last month of Ramadan and stayed in Saudi Arabia for 12 days. In order to further carry out the commandment of jihad, Abu Aram decided to stab to death an Israeli Jew inside Israel.
The charge further stated that the terrorist left his home on August 2 and headed to Israel without a legal permit to enter the country. He decided to carry out the attack against a former employer of his using a knife he planned to procure and a canister of pepper spray he brought along with him.
He arrived to the central city of Yavne by public transportation, and having failed to locate his intended victim at an events hall where he was previously employed, he decided to carry out the attack against another victim using a knife he planned on stealing from a nearby supermarket.
The indictment details how Abu Aram entered the supermarket and stole a 15cm knife, which he concealed in his pants. Searching for his victim, the terrorist found the assistant manager of the supermarket Nehamia as he was stacking shelves when suddenly he produced the knife and proceeded to stab him multiple times.
Nehamia's response to the attack was praised in the indictment. "Despite his serious wounds, the victim struggled with the accused, while throwing items at him located nearby."
During the violent encounter, the knife was broken and fell out of the terrorist's hand. At this point, he pulled out his pepper spray canisters and began spraying his victim in the face while he tried to flee his attacker. Eventually, Abu Aram managed to escape from the supermarket, leaving Nehamia in critical condition before being evacuated to hospital.
Before being taken for treatment, Nehamia screamed out the word "terrorist," prompting passersby to pursue Abu Aram and eventually subdue him until the arrival of security forces.
Nehamia's condition has since improved and he has made it a point to arrive to all of the terrorist's court dates. Nehamia, a 44-year-old father of five, fought off the terrorist and threw different products at him before collapsing. He was taken to the Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot in very serious condition with stab wounds to the chest, neck and head. His condition later improved and he was released.
"I feel a little better," he said after leaving the hospital. "I know that I'm going to have a difficult recovery, but we'll get through it. I thank the Creator who gave me these days and saved me from this situation, and also the doctors who labored (to help me recover—ed)."
"I don't remember much about that day," Nehamia added. "I saw the video, which refreshed my memory a little bit. I was moved by all of the dignitaries who visited me, but I was more moved by the fact that people I didn't know have come in."
"My case has united the people a little bit, and gave people mental strength. If that was the case, I'm glad," he concluded.
