Terror cell charged with planning attack on wedding hall

Men planned to enter Bayit Vagan wedding hall in haredi dress, carry out shooting attack with mini Uzi guns.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Nof Wedding Hall that was target of terror plot (photo credit: COURTESY "NOF YERUSAHALAIM")
Nof Wedding Hall that was target of terror plot
(photo credit: COURTESY "NOF YERUSAHALAIM")
The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office filed an indictment with the district court on Wednesday against an alleged terrorist cell of four Jerusalem residents for planning to attack the Nof Yerushalayim wedding hall in the Bayit Vagan neighborhood.
The cell consisted of Anas Ouisat, Basel Abidat, Ahmed Sarur and Amru Abado, all from the southeast Jebl Mukaber neighborhood and between the ages of 19 and 21, said the indictment.
The indictment’s details were as follows: Ouisat and Abidat decided in December, based on nationalistic motivations, that they would carry out an attack against civilians in Jerusalem and in coordination with terrorist groups.
Ouisat suggested a shooting attack on the Nof Yerushalayim hall because there could be many casualties (800 to 1,500 attendees), and because he had worked there.
They planned to enter the hall dressed as ultra-Orthodox Jews, with mini-Uzi guns under their clothes, and they obtained an estimate of NIS 50,000 from a weapons dealer.
At some point, Sarur joined the group, and performed surveillance of the hall to plan the attack.
However, he had a dispute with the original two members of the cell, dropped out and was eventually replaced by Abado.
The director of the wedding hall, Gilad Pinchas, expressed relief and gratitude in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.
“Nof is a place of celebration, the indictment is a gift from God,” Pinchas said. “Nof has top security conditions, and we will continue to consider security a top priority at our hall for all our events and all our guests.”
The prosecution has asked the court to remand all four suspects to police custody until the end of the proceedings.
Nati Gabbay contributed to this report.