Western Wall security guard charged with murder

Prosecutors filed premeditated murder charges Thursday against 25-year-old Hadi Kabalan, a security guard at the Western Wall who allegedly shot and killed Doron Ben Shlush on June 21.

Kabalan originally claimed Ben Shlush had shouted “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great” in Arabic, and insisted he had shot the 46-year-old Jewish man because he believed him to be a Muslim terrorist.

But police say they now believe Ben Shlush and Kabalan had had an altercation earlier in the day during which Ben Shlush uttered racist slurs against Kabalan, who is Druze.

According to the indictment, Kabalan asked another guard, who was also a target of Ben Shlush’s verbal abuse, if the guard would pay him NIS 1,000 to kill Ben Shlush.

Ben Shlush was shot 14 times in the public bathroom at the Kotel plaza, near the guard post where Kabalan was stationed.

Ben Shlush was a familiar figure at the Western Wall area, according to locals, with some describing him as a mentally unstable but apparently harmless individual.

A witness at the scene who knew Ben Shlush, David Dahan, expressed dismay at the shooting. ”I don’t understand why he was shot. Everybody knows him and his behavior,” the witness said. “He often acted in a nervous manner. What happened here is not normal.”

The victim was “sitting down this morning, reading the newspaper as usual,” Dahan continued. For some reason, “he began screaming and after that he approached the bathroom. After a short time, I heard at least seven or 10 gunshots.”

Ben Shlush was survived by an ex-wife and a 16-year-old daughter.

Yoel Goldman and Ron Friedman contributed to this report.