Fuld, 45, was stabbed in the upper back on September 16, 2018, outside the Gush Etzion shopping center, by Khalil Yusef Ali Jabarin, a 17-year-old Palestinian from Yatta, south of Hebron.
By YONAH JEREMY BOB‘WHAT MAKES Ari [Fuld]’s death so much more painful is our government’s inability to stem the problem at its source.’(photo credit: Courtesy)
Palestinian Khalil Yusef Ali Jabarin was convicted by the Judea Military Court on Monday in the murder of well-known American-Israeli activist Ari Fuld as well as for three other murder attempts.Fuld, 45, was stabbed in the upper back on September 16, 2018, outside the Gush Etzion shopping center, by Khalil Yusef Ali Jabarin, a 17-year-old Palestinian from Yatta, south of Hebron.Fuld's widow, Miriam, responded to the verdict, saying, "Almost sixteen months have passed since that terrible day that Ari was taken from us so suddenly... today the military courts have finally convicted the terrorist that so brutally attacked and killed Ari.""Ari, who so loved his people and his country, fought to defend and protect them until his last breath. Today, we finally get to see some justice for him," she said. "Until, we learn to stand up and defend our people... we will never truly be safe and free in our own country."Lawyer Maurice Hirsch, ex-head of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria, who represents the Fuld family, added: "Ari's murder was a direct result of the rampant incitement in the Palestinian Authority's education system and the monthly salaries the PA pays to terrorists. We expect the court to sentence the murderer to life in prison so that he will only be released when he dies."The Gush Etzion Regional Council also put out a statement saying that its members hope that the convicted terrorist would receive the maximum and most justified punishment for murdering "our dear Ari Fuld." The council said that terrorists like Jabarin should "rot in their graves and not sit in prison at our expense, only to be released with the next prisoner exchange."Following the quick indictment of Jabarin in October 2018, the case was delayed for six months by two other major issues.Initially, Jabarin's lawyer was Tarek Barghut - until recently one of the more well-known lawyers for Palestinians in the IDF's West Bank Courts.However, he was then surprisingly arrested by the IDF for what turned out to shockingly be full-fledged participation in terrorism and an array of shooting charges.When Barghut was first arrested, his wife was also arrested, and the community of lawyers for Palestinians viewed the arrests as crossing a redline. They went on strike, and the entire IDF West Bank Courts system came to standstill.Even when Barghut's wife was released and Barghut himself started to cooperate with his interrogators, it took time for Jabarin's new lawyer, Khaled Alaraj, to get up to speed on the case.The trial did not open until May and did not move forward at a serious pace until the summer. The entire trial, including the verdict announcement, has been and will continue to be behind closed doors, because the murderer was a minor when Fuld was killed. A redacted verdict will likely be distributed after it is announced.By October, both sides had presented closing arguments and it appeared that Jabarin was not seriously contesting the charge of murdering Fuld as much as he was contesting additional terrorism charges from other incidents.Even if Jabarin gets a life sentence for murdering Fuld, reducing those other charges could still be relevant in any future potential prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinians.Prior to attacking Fuld with a 21-centimeter knife, Jabarin had scoped out the Ziv junction, Ma'arat Hamahpelah (the Cave of the Patriarchs) near Hebron and a checkpoint near Beit Lehem as possible venues for his attack before settling on the Rami Levi supermarket outside the Gush Etzion shopping center.Jabarin decided not to attack at the Ziv junction because he couldn't find an IDF soldier; at the cave because it was closed; and at the Beit Lehem checkpoint since he was worried that nearby Palestinians might get caught up in his assault.However, when he saw Fuld, he noticed that he had his back to him and was distracted on a cellphone, so he decided to attack. Mortally wounded, Fuld chased his Palestinian attacker, jumped over a short stone wall, and shot and wounded him before he himself collapsed.Fuld was evacuated to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center where he succumbed to his wounds.Jabarin, who was shot by Fuld and another armed civilian, was evacuated in moderate condition and fully conscious to Hadassah University Medical Center in Ein Kerem.Born in New York, Fuld immigrated to Israel in 1994.The dual American-Israeli citizen lived in Efrat with his wife, Miriam, and was the father of Tamar (22), Naomi (21), Yakir (17), and Natan (12).He was a well-known activist and was among the most prominent American-Israeli Jews killed by terrorists in recent years.
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![‘WHAT MAKES Ari [Fuld]’s death so much more painful is our government’s inability to stem the problem at its source.’ (photo credit: Courtesy)](https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/q_auto/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/430075 "‘WHAT MAKES Ari [Fuld]’s death so much more painful is our government’s inability to stem the problem at its source.’")