A Palestinian Authority terrorist who stabbed a Jewish supermarket worker in Yavne on August 2 made his decision to carry out the attack while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, according to an indictment filed at the Lod Magistrates court on Monday.
Ismail Abu Aram, a 19-year-old Arab from the village of Yata in the Hebron district, stabbed Niv Nehama, a 43-year-old father of five, at the Supersal Deal supermarket with a 15 centimeter blade that he had concealed in his pants. Nehama barely survived the attack and was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
According to the indictment, Abu Aram spent 12 days in Mecca, Saudi Arabia during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in June. It was there, he told police, that he decided to “fulfill his duty to jihad [religious war]” and to “kill a Jew.”
Abu Aram had originally planned to kill a former employer, but when he could not find the man, he instead decided to enter a supermarket, steal a knife and attack a random victim. He entered the store, stole a knife from the kitchen department and hid it in his pants. When he saw assistant manager Nehama alone in one of the aisles, Abu Aram attacked, stabbing Nehama multiple times in the head neck and chest.
Despite sustaining critical wounds, Nehama fought back and Abu Aram fled, before being caught by passers-by who had chased after him outside the supermarket.
Nehama was released from hospital earlier this week.