In past interview, Islamic Jihad shooter 'wished to be a thorn in the throat of Zionists'

In interview after release from prison, Moataz Hejazi, who police killed this morning during shootout after he was suspected of shooting Yehuda Glick, spoke out about Palestinian resistance.

By YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUA, DANIEL K. EISENBUD
Moataz Hejazi (photo credit: PALESTINIAN MEDIA)
Moataz Hejazi
(photo credit: PALESTINIAN MEDIA)
Following his release from an Israeli prison two years ago, Moataz Hejazi, the terrorist suspected of shooting right-wing activist Yehuda Glick on Wednesday night, gave an interview to Palestinian TV Al Quds and was quoted as saying “I wish to be a thorn in the throat of the Zionist plan to Judaize Jerusalem.”
Thirty-two-year-old Hejazi, who served 11.5 years in prison for nationalistic crimes, said that "the Palestinian people in Jerusalem suffer from daily harrassment but despite that they continue to stand strong."
Begin Heritage Center spokesman Ofer Inbar said Hejazi worked in a privately-owned restaurant within the center and passed a background check before being employed.
“The restaurant does not belong to the Begin Center, so we have no idea about the personal details of the man, but we do know that people who work in the restaurant have to get a background check from the police first,” Inbar said.
 
“And we know that the owner of the restaurant got the OK to hire him.”
 
Hejazi was a kitchen hand at the center’s upscale Terasa, a gourmet mehadrin dairy restaurant. 
 
It remains unclear why a convicted terrorist passed a background test or why the suspect attempted to murder Glick.