Following indictment in Aisha Rabi killing, Shin Bet asserts ‘it was a terror attack in every respect’

Following the filing of an indictment against an Israeli teen alleged to have hurled a stone that struck Aisha Rabi in the head, killing the 47-year-old Palestinian mother of eight, the Shin Bet releases a statement asserting that the October 12 incident was “a terror attack in every respect.”

The security agency blasts “interested parties over their deliberate and ongoing effort to slander the Shin Bet and its employees,” throughout the investigation.

“In light of the manipulative claims currently being made by those interested parties… it should be said that this was a terrorist attack in every respect, and similar acts carried out by Arab terrorists, including minors, were dealt with no differently,” the Shin Bet says.

Shortly after the arrest of the first three suspects on December 30, settler leaders and prominent rabbis in the national religious camp began demonstrating against the Shin Bet, accusing its agents of torturing the suspects and robbing them of their rights.

The security agency says the the suspects in Rabi’s killing were in direct contact with violent far-right activists commonly known as hilltop youth, who are known for establishing illegal outposts on hilltops throughout the West bank and sometimes carrying out hate crimes targeting Palestinians and even Israeli security forces.