Palestinians convicted of killing Israeli employer in terror attack

An Israeli court convicted Sunday two Palestinians of murdering their Israeli employer in an October terror attack, after the two took a plea bargain, the justice ministry said.

Yousef Kamil and Mohammed Abu al-Rub, both of Qabatiya in the West Bank, murdered Reuven Schmerling in a premeditated attack at their workplace in the Arab Israeli city of Kafr Kassem on October 4, according to the plea bargain approved by the Lod district court.

Schmerling, 69 and who lived in the nearby Israeli settlement of Elkana in the West Bank, was stabbed and beaten to death by the two in his coal warehouse, according to a justice ministry statement.

Sentencing for the two will begin on June 24.

The two had decided to “carry out an attack for nationalistic reasons and cause the death of Jews,” the charges against the two read.

They were seeking revenge over the death of a friend in 2015, who was shot dead while attempting an attack, prosecutors said.

They were also motivated by “the events on the Temple Mount,” the Shin Bet domestic security agency said.

The flashpoint holy site in East Jerusalem was the scene of heightened tensions in July after three Arab Israelis shot dead two policemen nearby.

The two were also convicted of entering Israel illegally.

The two men did not have work permits that allowed them to enter Israel, but nevertheless traveled to Kafr Qassem in late September in order to work at Schmerling’s coal storage facility illegally.

According to the indictment, Kamil entered Israel not only to work but also “to carry out a nationalistically motivated stabbing attack and kill Jews for being Jews.”

Kamil asked al-Rub to take part, but was initially rebuffed, but on October 2, he asked again and al-Rub agreed to carry out the attack.

The next day, according to prosecutors, they bought a butcher’s knife. They chose Schmerling to be their victim due to work disputes and general antipathy toward him, according to the indictment.

Just before 10 a.m. on October 4, the day before the start of the Sukkot festival, Schmerling knocked on the door of a room in the storage facility where they lived. When the two men answered the door, he told them they were “only good for sleeping and eating” and asked Kamil to load a large battery into his car, according to the charge sheet.

When Kamil walked back into the storage facility, he allegedly conspired with al-Rub to carry out the stabbing attack and organized their escape route.

Half an hour later, they lured Schmerling into their room by telling him their refrigerator wasn’t working. As al-Rub spoke with him, Kamil allegedly took out the knife and began stabbing Schmerling in the back and then in the stomach.

Al-Rub, meanwhile, ran out and brought back a pickaxe, which he also allegedly used to attack Schmerling, the indictment said.

They also beat him with a fan that was in the room, according to the charge sheet.

Schmerling fought back, hitting Kamil in the leg with a chair, but he was overpowered, the charge sheet said.

During the attack, Schmerling sustained wounds to the back, chest, stomach, head, arms and legs, according to the indictment.

His body was found later that day in one of the business’s storage units by his son, who alerted police and emergency services.

After the attack, Kamil and al-Rub showered and changed their clothes, ditched the weapons they’d allegedly used and traveled back to Qabatiya, according to the indictment.