Suspected troop’s killer confessed last month, but IDF waited to be sure: report

The suspect in last month’s killing of Israel Defense Forces soldier Amit Ben-Ygal confessed some ten days ago, but investigators, taking no chances, waited until they could verify beyond doubt that he was the assailant before announcing it publicly, a report said Monday.

In the predawn hours of May 12, the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion carried out a series of arrests in the northern West Bank village of Yabed. As they were making their way out of the Palestinian village, a brick thrown from the roof of a three-story building struck and killed Sgt. First Class Ben-Ygal, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The military and Shin Bet security service on Sunday confirmed the arrest of a suspect, Nazmi Abu Bakr, 49, a resident of Yabed who lives in the building from which the rock was thrown.

Abu Bakr was arrested in the morning of May 12, some four hours after the incident, along with 20 other residents of the building, Channel 12 reported Monday, without citing a source.

The IDF opened a joint emergency room with the Shin Bet to coordinate efforts to identify the killer, the report said.

Initial questioning revealed that three people had been on the roof when the brick was thrown, and the efforts since then focused on proving which of the three threw it.

That very evening, IDF forces returned to Yabed and arrested people residing in adjacent buildings. The total number of people arrested was 34.

Many of them were released the next morning, but some were kept in custody because there was a chance they had information about the killer’s identity, according to the report.

After several more rounds of questioning, the Shin Bet understood what had likely happened, and Abu Bakr confessed about ten days ago. However, the investigators wanted to be sure he wasn’t covering up for a younger member of his family.

The three people who had been on the roof were taken to reenact the act, and Abu Bakr was asked exactly where he had stood, how he had held the brick, how he had thrown it and more questions.

The Shin Bet said charges had not yet been filed by the military prosecutor.

Ben-Ygal, 21, was the first IDF soldier to be killed in action in 2020. He was posthumously promoted from staff sergeant to sergeant first class.

Despite the lack of formal charges, the announcement of the break in the case was met with widespread enthusiasm from political leaders.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised security forces for apprehending the “lowly killer,” and said he had ordered that Abu Bakr’s family home be destroyed.

“Those who try to hurt us — we will get our hands on them, sooner or later,” he said.

Israel uses controversial home demolitions of alleged attackers as a form of deterrent.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz said in a statement he hoped the arrest would bring some comfort to Ben-Ygal’s bereaved parents. “Those who harm Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers will pay a heavy price. We will get to them, anywhere they may be,” he said.

That was echoed by President Reuven Rivlin, who said: “Proud of the security forces who captured the terrorist who murdered IDF Staff Sgt Amit Ben Yigal after many nights of relentless pursuit. We will act uncompromisingly against terrorism and its perpetrators to keep Israelis safe.”

According to the IDF’s initial investigation, as the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion was making its way out of the town at roughly 4:30 a.m., Ben-Ygal apparently heard a sound coming from one of the rooftops on the outskirts of the village and looked up.

As he did, exposing his face, someone on the roof of the three-story building threw the brick at him. Ben-Ygal was fatally wounded. He received treatment at the scene before being flown by helicopter to Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.