Jewish suspect freed to house arrest after shooting Arab municipal worker in Jerusalem
Witnesses say Ahmad Nijam, 41, was mobbed by young Jewish extremists chanting ‘Death to Arabs’; suspect makes uncorroborated claim Nijam shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ at Jewish revelers
A Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court judge on Thursday ordered that a Jewish suspect who had shot an Arab municipal worker in the capital be released to house arrest, despite the apparent lack of justification for opening fire.
Ahmad Nijam, 41, was shot in the leg on Wednesday night in downtown Jerusalem after coming under attack by a mob of young Jewish extremists who chanted “Death to Arabs,” witnesses reported.
Speaking to Channel 13, Nijam recalled how members of the mob approached him and demanded to know why he was hanging around an area generally frequented by Jews. Several people threw water bottles at him, and another member of the group demanded that he open his backpack.
At one point, the suspect ordered Nijam to drop to the ground before shooting him — a seemingly clear violation of open-fire regulations.
Footage from the scene showed Nijam writhing in pain as the suspect and another individual wearing an IDF uniform stood several meters away without providing any assistance.
An acquaintance of Nijam began filming the incident and called the police, who arrived at the scene along with a Magen David Adom ambulance.
אתמול, ברחוב קינג ג'ורג' בירושלים היה פיגוע.
הוא לא פתח מהדורות ואפילו אלמוג בוקר
או אודי סגל לא שידרו.
המחבל, חמוש באקדח ברישיון, היה יהודי
והקורבן פלסטיני תושב ירושלים.במשטרה קראו לזה מקרה ירי. pic.twitter.com/CDHB1sBPrV
— מסתכלים לכיבוש בעיניים (@Mistaclim) March 13, 2025
Before they got there, though, the suspect could be seen fleeing the area.
Police managed to track him down shortly thereafter and arrested him.
Nonetheless, officers summoned Nijam for questioning under caution on Thursday immediately after he was released from the hospital.
Nijam told Channel 13 that during the questioning, police demanded to know what he was doing out so late at night.
For his part, the suspect claimed that he had opened fire after he spotted Nijam shouting “Allahu Akbar” toward a group of Jewish revelers. Other witnesses have not corroborated this testimony.
Nonetheless, Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Judge David Shaul Gabai Richter ordered later Thursday that the suspect be released to house arrest.
In his decision, Richter appeared to excuse the suspect’s actions, explaining that everyone is “on edge” amid the ongoing war.
“Although this was an incident in which a weapon was used… I do not believe that the defendant can be deemed a… criminal,” he wrote.
Nationalistically motivated assaults on Arab municipal workers surged after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, when terrorists murdered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages from southern communities.
In the weeks following the massacre, a letter was written at the initiative of Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and signed by senior rabbis denouncing the attacks, amid several complaints by the city’s residents that cleaning and maintenance duties were neglected, apparently due to municipal workers’ fear of violence against them.
Rabbis said at the time that the violence violated Torah teachings, and singled out youth who have been predominantly involved in the assaults.
The Times of Israel Community.