Arab Would-Be Axe Terrorist Gets 30 Years in Prison

A military court on Wednesday imposed a 30-year prison sentence on Sa’idi Ali Abu Hamed, a terrorist who seriously wounded Tzvika Cohen, a 47-year-old security guard at a shopping center in the Yerushalayim suburb of Maale Adumim in February 2016. Hamed, a resident of the village of Azariya outside Yerushalayim, tried to axe his victim to death. In addition to the jail sentence, Hamed was ordered to pay Cohen NIS 200,000 in reparations.

Hamed was charged with attempted murder and various security crimes. Cohen was struck in the head by the terrorist, and was in a coma for half a year before he was released from the hospital.

Police tracked down the terrorist after an anonymous tipster – possibly a family member – called the police and informed them that the 22-year-old was the wanted man. Under questioning, Abu Hamed admitted that he was the culprit. Police later said that the terrorist was acquainted with his victim, and had even had coffee with him earlier on the day of the attack, police said. Police discovered the axe Hamed used on the trail he used to escape back to his village.

Hamed had a work permit for a job in Maale Adumim. Speaking to Army Radio after the attack, Boris Grossman, deputy mayor of Maale Adumim, blamed it on the “soft policies of the government, which does not punish terrorists sufficiently and eventually releases them.” Rami Cohen, Tzvika’s brother, was himself injured in a terrorist shooting attack in 2000.