Alleged Islamic State sympathizer from Bedouin town charged with planning to car-bomb Beersheba nightclub

A 20-year-old from a southern Bedouin town is indicted for allegedly plotting to set off a car bomb at Beersheba’s popular Forum nightclub after he connected online with Islamic State enthusiasts and a person “who presented himself as a Palestinian terror operative,” police and the Shin Bet and police say.

The Southern District Attorney’s Office charged Abdullah Gergawi at the Beersheba District Court this morning with security offenses and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, the joint statement says.

Gergawi was arrested on July 19 in his hometown of Segev Shalom, according to the statement.

Investigators who interrogated him discovered that in 2025, Gergawi “held many weapons in his home,” including MAG and Negev machine guns and Kalashnikov and M16 assault rifles, the statement says. In March and April of this year, Gergawi also allegedly possessed an illegal M-16 knockoff and fired it in an open area.

In addition, Gergawi “carried out actions” to produce an explosive device as part of his plan to attack the Forum, police and the Shin Bet say. The statement doesn’t specify the time of the preparations or when Gergawi allegedly planned to carry out the attack.

Gergawi had been “exposed for an extended period” to Islamic State propaganda on social media, the statement says, adding that he “identified with the organization’s ideology and consumed terrorist content.”

In addition to contacting the purported Palestinian terror operative, Gergawi also “participated in a Telegram group chat where materials were exchanged relating to Islamic State and terrorist activity,” the statement says.