2014 Jerusalem synagogue attack

On the morning of 18 November 2014, two Palestinian men from Jerusalem entered Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue, in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem, and attacked the praying congregants with axes, knives, and a gun. They killed four dual-nationality worshippers, and critically wounded a responding Druze Israeli police officer, who later died of his wounds. They also injured seven male worshippers,^[1] one of whom never woke up from a coma and died 11 months later. The two attackers were then shot dead by the police.

Several initial reports claimed that the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) had declared responsibility for the attack;^[2][3][4][5] Other sources say declarations by PFLP militants were either confused or that the group itself disclaimed responsibility.^[6][7][8] Israeli authorities stated that 'it seemed the men had acted alone'.^[3]

It was the deadliest terror attack in Jerusalem since the Mercaz HaRav massacre in March 2008.^[9][10][11] The attack was one of a number of violent attacks on Israelis in the summer and autumn of 2014 being called an intifada by some news sources, despite no official intifada being organized by a Palestinian group, as they were in the first and second intifadas.^[12]

The UN Security Council condemned the "despicable terrorist attack" in the Jerusalem synagogue.^[13]

At approximately 07:00, during the weekday Shacharit morning prayer, as the worshipers were saying the silent amidah standing prayer, two Arab men from Jerusalem entered Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue, in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem, and attacked the worshippers with axes, meat cleavers, and a gun.^{[14][15][16][17]}

The terrorists killed four dual-national worshipers and a responding Druze Israeli police officer, and injured seven male worshipers,^[1] one of whom never woke up from a coma and died 11 months later. One of the worshippers fought back and hit a terrorist on the head with a chair twice, before escaping upstairs. It was the deadliest terror attack in Jerusalem since the Mercaz HaRav massacre in March 2008.^[9][10][11]

Two traffic policemen who heard gunfire came running to the synagogue, and engaged the attackers in a gun battle.^[14] A third policeman arrived shortly after, and shot both attackers dead. Two policemen were wounded, one of whom subsequently died from his injuries.^[17]

The first responder was a Druze Israeli police officer, Zidan Saif. He was critically wounded when he was shot in the head during the ensuing gun battle, and later died.^[18]

The perpetrators shouted "Allahu Akbar!" as they attacked the worshipers.^[14][19][20]

Killed:

• Rabbi Moshe Twersky (age 59), an American-Israeli and resident of Har Nof. Twersky was head of the Toras Moshekollel, son of Harvard professor Rabbi Isadore Twersky, and part of a Boston rabbinical dynasty
• Rabbi Kalman Levine (age 55), an American-Israeli and resident of Har Nof.
• Rabbi Aryeh Kupinsky (age 43), an American-Israeli and resident of Har Nof.
• Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg (age 68) a British-Israeli.^{[1][14][21][22]}
• Master Sergeant Zidan Saif (age 30), the Druze police officer shot in the head during the attack and rescue response, who later died from his wounds.^[21][23] Saif lived in the Northern Israeli Druze village of Yanuh-Jat, and was father of a 4-month-old daughter.^[14][24]

Seven other male worshipers were wounded by the attackers, two seriously.^[21] One of the injured victims, Howard (Chaim) Rotman, having spent nearly a year in a vegetative coma due to multiple cleaver wounds to the face and head,^[25][26] died of his wounds on 23 October 2015.^[27]

The perpetrators, cousins Uday Abu Jamal (22) and Ghassan Muhammad Abu Jamal (32), came from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber, and worked at a grocery store near the synagogue.^[16][21][28] The two attackers were relatives of PFLP affiliate Jamal Abu Jamal, sentenced to 22 years in prison for attempted murder,^[29] released by Israel as part of the 2013–14 Israeli–Palestinian peace talks.^[14][30]

Ghassan Abu Jamal's widow, Nadia, was served with a demolition order on her house in East Jerusalem; her residency rights were revoked, and she was expelled to her family home in the West Bank. Her 3 children, Walid (6), Salma (4) and Mohammed (3) ⁠— ⁠the last child suffers from a heart condition ⁠— ⁠are permitted to stay in East Jerusalem as it is their birth-place, but their rights to all social benefits, including medical coverage, were cancelled. She is protesting the measures, which she calls an example of collective punishment. She said that "If we'd known that my husband was planning an attack, of course we would have stopped him" while her in-laws said that they could not come to terms with what pushed Ghassan and Uday to attack the place of worship.^[31]

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) was initially reported as claiming responsibility for the attack.^[2] Hani Thawbta, a PFLP leader in the Gaza Strip, stated: "We declare full responsibility of the PFLP for the execution of this heroic operation conducted by our heroes".^[32] On the PFLP's website, Khalil Maqdesi of the PFLP's Central Committee said the "occupation" was responsible, and that "The PFLP will continue to target every institution of the occupation."^[33] Israeli authorities said 'it seemed the men had acted alone'.^[3] The police chief had initially said that though his investigation was not complete, he believed it appeared to be a lone wolf attack.^[34]

The two men were reportedly affiliated with the PFLP,^[16] and the PFLP identified the two as its members,^[5] but their family said that they were unaware if that was the case.^[4] According to some family members the attackers did not belong to any armed group.^[35]

Two relatives of the attackers said the attack was motivated by what the attackers saw as "threats of a Jewish takeover of Al Aqsa" and the death of a Palestinian bus driver, Youssef al-Ramouni, in Jerusalem's Har Hotzvim bus depot.^[14] Israeli authorities said an autopsy found only evidence of suicide, and that a Palestinian pathologist who attended the autopsy, Dr. Saber al-Aloul, initially agreed with the finding.^[3][36][37] However, the doctor later said the results pointed towards an "organized killing";^[38][39] many Palestinians believe the bus driver was murdered by Israeli settlers.^[40]

In response to this and other incidents in a spate of other attacks on Jews in the summer and fall of 2014, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moved to ease tensions with the Arab world, urging an end to visits to the Temple Mount by government ministers and MKs.^[41] In addition, Israel re-instituted the policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinian perpetrators and revoking the residency status of their near relatives.^[42] In an unprecedented move it said was intended to deter would-be future attacks, Israel refrained from releasing the bodies of the dead attackers to their families.^[43] Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered the demolition of the attackers' homes.^[44] Israeli Defense MinisterMoshe Ya'alon stated that in light of the recent string of attacks Israel would freeze a series of planned steps to ease life for Palestinians living in the West Bank, including new roadways.^[45]

The synagogue which was the site of the attack reopened the following day, once again with shacharit services.^[46] The congregation continues to employ Arab workers.^[47]

In response to the incident, many protests were conducted around the world. Rabbi Avi Weiss conducted a protest at the Palestinian Embassy in New York City.^[48] Ten Jewish men were arrested at a protest in Jerusalem,^[49] and 23 others were arrested attempting to block the Jerusalem Light Rail.^[50] Memorial services were held in many communities.^[51]

Thousands attended Zidan Saif's funeral, including President Reuven Rivlin, Minister of Internal Security Yitzhak Aharonovich, and Chief of Police Yohanan Danino.^[52] A Jewish American couple named their child after Zidan Saif to honor his actions.^[53]

The FBI had stated that they would join Israeli authorities in an investigation of the attacks, with an eye to whether any organizations or individuals assisted the attackers, and could be prosecuted.^[14]

Family and friends of British-Israeli victim Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg raised funds to dedicate a 3-bed unit in his name in the Emergency Department of Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem.^[54]

The attack was reported live on CNN, with details emerging as they became available; CNN's scrolling banner – which changed several times throughout the broadcast, initially read: "Casualties in Jerusalem Synagogue Attack", and later "Israeli Govt. Radio: Police Shot, Killed Two Palestinians."^[87]

The incident was covered by all major news outlets. The Star Tribune ran a Steve Sack editorial cartoon showing the dove of peace weeping as its olive branch was spattered with blood from the "synagogue massacre".^[88]CBC News headlined their report on the attack with: "Jerusalem police fatally shoot 2 after apparent synagogue attack".^[89][90]The Guardian removed all reference to Palestinians from the Reuters dispatch it ran.^[90]

In one CNN broadcast a day later, the banner briefly read "Deadly Attack on Jerusalem Mosque".^[90][91] People on all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict complained of media bias.^[89][92][93] Yossi Dagan, Media Relations Liaison for the Samaria Regional Council, an organization serving settlers in the West Bank, as well as Ido Kenan of the Jerusalem Post, complained that CNN and its reporters had exhibited bias, blaming reporter Ben Wedeman for not providing more information than was available at the time, and for the erroneous onscreen banner. Wedeman responded, by way of a tweet, that he does not write headlines, and CNN apologized for the mistake that day.^[94]

A headline in the French daily Le Monde read "Six killed in Jerusalem". Following a protest from the Israeli embassy in Paris, Le Monde changed the headline to specify that four Israelis and "two Palestinian attackers" had been killed.^[95] British political theorist Alan Johnson slammed the news coverage, describing coverage such as the Amira Hass report in Haaretz describing alleged "despair and anger that pushed the Abu Jamals to attack Jews in a synagogue (emphasis added)", as "racist" because it robs Arabs of moral agency, attributing moral agency exclusively to Jews. He described the media outlets that took these positions, CNN, the CBC, Haaretz, and The Guardian, as being "a bit racist" in taking an "Orientalist view of the Palestinians as the Other", and regarding them as "noble savages".^[90]

• List of massacres in Israel
• Palestinian political violence
• Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2014