Arab lawmaker (Balad) Jamal Zahalka warns if the Haifa prosecutor decides to move ahead with criminal indictments against residents of Shfaram, rioting will ensue. The Arab MK stated that police have been negligent in their duty to apprehend those responsible for sending IDF soldier Eden Natan Zada in August of 2005 when he boarded an Arab bus and opened fire with his IDF-issued weapon, killing four passengers and leaving nine others wounded.

Zada, a former resident of Kfar Tapuach in Shomron and an IDF deserter was grabbed by the angry Arab mob and beaten to death as police looked on, afraid to intervene.

The police investigation in the weeks and months following the murder and beating death of the Zada led to the arrest of 12 Shfaram residents, and the Haifa Prosecutor’s Office may now move ahead with aggravated assault charges against them, stating they are not considering manslaughter or murder charges against the defendants.

Zahalka calls the state’s actions a “provocation” and is threatening with renewed riots, as were seen following the arrests of a number of suspects months after the fatal bus incident.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)