Kotel gunman asked other guards if they would pay him to shoot Ben-Shalush

Suspect charged with murder after shooting man at Western Wall.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
bodybag of J'lem Kotel shooting 370 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
bodybag of J'lem Kotel shooting 370
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
The Jerusalem District Court on Thursday indicted Hadi Kabalan, the security guard who shot unarmed Doron Ben-Shalush to death at the Western Wall on June 21, for murder.
The indictment said Kabalan and another guard, Khaled, checked Ben- Shalush at the security check point when he arrived at the Western Wall area as he did on a daily basis.
After the check, Ben- Shalush yelled at the two security guards and used a racial slur against them for being Druse, the indictment stated.
The security guards continued their work, during which Kabalan asked Khaled and another guard if they would give him NIS 1,000 if he killed Ben-Shalush, the indictment alleged.
According to the indictment, when Ben-Shalush walked by the check point later, Kabalan followed him and when he was only meters away opened fire.
Kabalan fired at Ben- Shalush 14 times at the center of his body, noted the indictment, while coming closer and closer to him, and did not stop firing until his magazine was empty.
It was originally thought the shooting may have been the result of a case of mistaken identity. The 25-year-old guard has said he shot Ben- Shalush to death because the 46-year-old shouted “Allahu akbar” and reached into his pocket, thus leading him to believe that Ben-Shalush was a terrorist.
Last week, the court lifted a gag order on the identity of the shooter, who was revealed to be Kabalan, a Border Police officer from the Druse village of Beit Jann in the Upper Galilee.
At Kabalan’s previous remand hearing, the transcripts of which were released on Sunday, his lawyer bristled at the charges and the suggestion by the prosecution that his client, who has spent most of his career in various security services and with highly positive reviews, was a flight risk or might obstruct the investigation.
The lawyer added that the guard had never served in the Western Wall area before, contributing to his not recognizing Ben- Shalush, who was a regular there.