Eden Natan-Zada

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Eden Natan-Zada

Eden Natan-Zada (c. 1985 – August 4, 2005) was an AWOL Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier who opened fire in a bus in the northern Israeli town of Shfar'am on August 4, 2005, murdering two Christian and two Muslim Israeli Arab civilians and wounding twenty-two others. He was restrained, disarmed and cuffed when he tried to reload to prepare for another round of shooting [1]. A video released later shows him being beaten to death by the crowd [2] immediately after, while he was still on the bus. The shooting is believed to have been in protest of the Israeli government's disengagement plan.

No group has taken credit for the attack, and most officials in the settler movement have denounced it. Natan-Zada was absent without leave and in hiding from the IDF at the time of the shooting. He had recently become religious after getting involved with far-right Kahanist activists.

1 Early life
2 The Shfar'am attack
3 Reactions
4 Burial controversy
5 External links

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Early life

Natan-Zada's parents describe him as having been a "bright and studious Israeli schoolboy" prior to his becoming involved with Kahanism, to which he was introduced via the internet. He then began spending weekends in Kfar Tapuach, an Orthodox West Bank settlement where he eventually hid to avoid further service in the IDF. According to Matthew Gutman of the Jerusalem Post, Kfar Tapuach "became the unofficial headquarters of Kahane Chai in 1990," but supporters deny the existance of a Kahane headquarters.

In a letter left behind after his deserting [3], Natan-Zada expressed dismay over the disengagement plan to his parents, saying "Just as I couldn't carry out an order that desecrates the Sabbath, I cannot be part of an organization that expels Jews." He added the anti-pullout slogan "Jews don't expel Jews" to his letter, and concluded the message with the words: "I will consider how I will continue to serve."

His mother claims that prior to the shooting she alerted the IDF and other security services that her son was still in possession of his military-issued weapon. "We told everyone he's AWOL, that he could do something with his gun. We begged them to take away his gun. He also asked them to take his gun. The army destroyed my child. The army destroyed my life." According to The New Republic, "an army psychiatrist warned that he wasn't fit for weapons or uniform, but his professional judgment was awaiting approval by a panel of medical experts that was not very swift in assembling" and a "former chief of staff of the IDF" "speculated that the killer's parents might have a chance to win damages in court for neglect by the army of the welfare of their son." [4]

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The Shfar'am attack

Sisters Hazar (left) and Dina (right) Turki, both killed during Natan-Zada's shooting.

Natan-Zada boarded the Shfar'am-bound bus on Thursday, August 4, 2005. He was dressed in full IDF uniform, carrying his IDF-issued M16 rifle, and, according to observers, wearing the skullcap, beard and sidelocks of a religiously-observant Jew. He opened fire on the driver shortly after the bus entered Shfar'am, then turned on the passengers; the driver and two passengers were killed instantly, and a third passenger died from sustained gunshot wounds. When he paused to reload his weapon, Natan-Zada was subdued by streetgoers gathered around the scene of the bus shooting. When the police arrived at the scene he was tied and still alive, but the small police force couldn't prevent the crowd from lynching him.

According to witnesses, the bus driver was initially surprised to see a religiously-observant Jewish soldier making his way to Shfar'am (an overwhelmingly Israeli-Arab city) via public bus, so he asked Natan-Zada if he was certain he wanted to take his current route. Upon arriving in Shfar'am's primary Druze neighborhood, Natan-Zada stood up and approached the front door as if to disembark the bus. When the door opened, Natan-Zada turned around and began shooting.

The four murdered victims were Hazar Turki and Dina Turki, two sisters in their early twenties, and two men, Michel Bahus (the driver) and Nader Hayek; all were Israeli citizens. In the days after the attack, 40,000 Israeli Arabs formed an enormous funeral service in honor of the victims in the town; the two sisters were buried in an Islamic cemetery, and the two men were buried in the local Christian cemetery.

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Reactions

Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon unequivocally condemned Natan-Zada's actions, calling them "a reprehensible act by a bloodthirsty Jewish terrorist," and "a deliberate attempt to harm the fabric of relations among all Israeli citizens." Vice Premier Shimon Peres and Interior Minister Ophir Paz-Pines visited the bereaved families. "Your pain is the pain of the entire State of Israel. We will not allow crazy men and terrorists to harm your life here," Peres told the families. Sharon's government has consistently referred to the shooting as "an act of terrorism," language usually reserved for Palestinian suicide bombers. [5]

The vast majority of Jewish organizations worldwide, both religious and secular, have likewise denounced Zada's actions.

While the Israeli government and US State Department both consider groups based on Kahanism to be terrorist organizations, Kahanist advocates insist their ideology only advocates the forced removal of Arabs from the Palestine area, not murder.

The monitoring committee of the Israeli Arab leadership called on the government to refrain from investigating the death of Eden Natan-Zada. Israeli Arab Knesset member Mohammad Barakeh, a Shfar'am resident himself, warned that protests could erupt if police probe Zada's lynching: "Normally when someone stops a terrorist from continuing to kill he is considered a hero, but in this case it is the heroes who are sitting on the defense stand". However, Shfaram's security officer, Jamal Aliam, told Army Radio that Zada had been attacked by dozens of people after he had been handcuffed and subdued by police. [6]

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Burial controversy

Natan-Zada's funeral was a controversial matter. Jewish law requires a swift burial, but nationwide outrage against his attacks left his body without a willing resting place for three days.

An initial agreement between IDF officials and the Natan-Zada family would have allowed burial in a military cemetery, but with no military honors such as a 21-gun salute or placement of the Israeli flag upon his coffin. The Israeli Government quickly revoked this offer after investigation of the attack, refusing him a military funeral or burial in a military cemetery; defence minister Shaul Mofaz described him as a deserter "unworthy to be buried next to the fallen soldiers of Israel's wars." Meir Nitzan, the mayor of Rishon Le Zion followed suit, banning his funeral and refusing to accept his body.

Authorities at Kfar Tapuach have disavowed any connection to him. Kfar Tapuah spokesman Moshe Meirsdorf said Natan-Zada's connection to the community "has been destructive for us. We totally reject him and everything he did." The settlement's leadership claims that Natan-Zada and other extremist youth were not official community members, despite the fact that Natan-Zada had legally updated his address to Kfar Tapuah. "He was never accepted by the absorption committee," said Meirsdorf, whose wife is a member of the committee. He added that Natan-Zada's burial would occur in Kfar Tapuach only "over my dead body." Other cemeteries, including one that normally takes the bodies of terrorists, refused his remains.[7]

Some Israeli media outlets initially suggested that Natan-Zada be buried in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, where Baruch Goldstein, the Kahanist who shot dead 29 and wounded 125 Palestinians in the Mosque of Abraham massacre 11 years ago, is buried. Natan-Zada's body resided for three days in a police morgue, pending an appeal to Prime Minister Sharon by his parents. On August 7, 2005, the Prime Minister's Bureau overruled Meir Nitzan's ban against burial in Rishon Le Zion, and decreed that Zada should be buried in a civilian cemetery there. He was buried in the Gordon neighborhood. Because of the delays, Natan-Zada was buried nearly three days after Jewish law allows. Four of the hundred mourners at the burial were arrested for incitement, including "New Kach" leader Efraim Hershkovits. [8]

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