Jewish teen who stabbed 4 Arabs indicted for attempted murder

An Israeli teenager who stabbed four Arab men in the southern city of Dimona earlier this month in an apparent terror attack was indicted in the Beersheba District Court on Monday on four counts of attempted murder.

The youth, 17, is also accused of aggravated assault and causing aggravated bodily harm with racist intent.

The attack, which took place on October 9, saw the accused stab one man at a shopping center and then advance to another location next to a local school, where he stabbed three others. A security guard then tackled and restrained him until police arrived.

Two of the victims were moderately to seriously wounded in the attack, while two others were treated for light wounds, the Magen David Adom first-aid service and police said.

At the time, police termed the attack “nationalistic,” indicating that it was likely a retaliation for a spate of Palestinian attacks against Israelis, which have exacerbated Arab-Jewish tensions.

Questioned immediately after the attack, the suspect said he had stabbed the four because they were Arabs, and claimed that “all Arabs are terrorists.”

The stabber’s attorney, far-right activist Itamar Ben Gvir, said his client suffers from mental health issues and was under the influence of drugs during the attack.

However, a court-ordered psychiatric exam found that he was fit to stand trial.

Ben-Gvir also told the court that his client’s mental health “deteriorated because of the reality to which he was exposed.”