Israeli Reservist Who Killed Civilian at Terror Attack Placed Under Arrest

Jerusalem, 4 December, 2023 (TPS) -- The Israeli Defense Forces said on Monday it arrested a reservist soldier who shot and killed a civilian at the scene of a Jerusalem terror attack.

Yuval Doron Castleman, a 37 year-old attorney was passing a bus stop at the entrance to Jerusalem on Thursday when when two Palestinians arrived in a vehicle and began shooting at rush hour commuters. He and two reservists fired at the terrorists, killing them.

They had fired from different directions, and the soldiers apparently mistook Castleman for a terrorist.

A video of Castleman’s shooting surfaced on social media showing him on his knees with his hands in the air and his handgun on the ground. He had removed his coat so the soldiers could he see wasn’t wearing a bomb belt.

“Look at my ID card, I’m Jewish,” Castleman was heard saying. The first bullet hit Castleman’s jaw, making it impossible for him to speak. The soldier then fired a second shot.

Castleman was evacuated to Jerusalem’s Shaarei Zedek Medical Center, where he died of his injuries several hours later. He died on what would have been his 38th birthday.

Castleman’s family called the killing “an execution.”

The reservist arrested was identified as Sgt. (Ret.) Aviad Frija.

The killing is being investigated by the Israeli Police and Military Police.

Killed in the terror attack were 73-year-old Rabbi Elimelech Wasserman, who was a judge in the rabbinical court in Ashdod, Hanna Ifergan, a 67 year-old principal of a girl’s school in Beit Shemesh, and 24 year-old Livia Dickman of Jerusalem.

Five other victims are hospitalized.

The two terrorists were identified as Murad Nemer and his brother, Ibrahim, of eastern Jerusalem. Both were in their 30s, were associated with Hamas, and had previously been imprisoned for terror activities. The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) said that Murad was jailed from 2010 to 2020 for planning attacks under the direction of terror commanders in Gaza.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.