Terror charges filed against Bedouin man for ramming student in Beersheba

Prosecutors on Monday filed an indictment against a Bedouin Israeli man for allegedly carrying out a car-ramming attack, wounding a student in the southern city of Beersheba last month.

Amr Alkirnawi, 39, of Rahat, was charged with a terrorist act of attempted murder, aggravated assault, and illegal use of a vehicle, over the November 24 attack.

According to the charge sheet, Alkirnawi became disgruntled after getting into an argument with a Jewish Israeli man in the southern city two days before the ramming.

During the altercation, Alkirnawi allegedly spat at the resident, who asked him to move his truck which was blocking a private parking lot, and in response, the Jewish man said: “You stinking Arab, you deserve a bullet in the head.”

Both men were questioned by police over the incident.

Alkirnawi then published several posts on TikTok falsely claiming the Jewish man had threatened him with a gun.

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“Nobody can threaten the Bedouins here in Beersheba or in the south. If you respect us we will respect you, and if not you will suffer. This is not a threat, but for our dignity, we are willing to give up our lives,” the suspect said in a rant.

In another clip, as the suspect walked out of a police station after filing a complaint against the man for allegedly threatening him, he called on Bedouins to prepare to defend themselves.

“I call on Bedouins: You need to be prepared at any moment for any threat. Each and everyone should protect themselves in this racist country,” he said.

Prosecutors charged that the incident spurred Alkirnawi to commit a ramming attack against a Jewish person, an 18-year-old student at the Israeli Air Force Technological College.

Alkirnawi drove his vehicle onto the sidewalk near the college after spotting the teen, who was in military uniform, walking with his back turned to him. While technically not enlisted in the military, students at the IAF college wear uniforms.

The victim was thrown onto the windshield of the car when Alkirnawi rammed into him, then fell off near a bus stop. Alkirnawi fled but was arrested some 200 meters from the scene by police. He was later taken to be questioned by the Shin Bet security agency.

The teen was taken to Soroka Medical Center in the city in moderate condition.

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The Beersheba Magistrate’s Court ordered that Alkirnawi be held in custody for 45 days.

Speaking at the court, Alkirnawi said he was not a terrorist.

“I’m not a terrorist, I voted for Bibi, I love the country, I volunteered at MDA for two years,” he told reporters, referring to presumed incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu using his nickname and to Israel’s national ambulance service.

The alleged attack came amid heightened tensions, and a day after two bombs were detonated at two bus stops near entrances to Jerusalem, killing a teenager and wounding more than 20 others.

Last week, a Palestinian man illegally in Israel crashed an apparently stolen car into a motorcyclist in Tel Aviv, moderately wounding him. The Shin Bet believes the crash was a terror attack.