Officials: ‘Social Outcast’ Barkan Terrorist ‘Sought Penance for Personal Sins’

Ashraf Nalaweh, the terrorist murderer of Ziv Hajabi, Hy”d, and Kim Levengard Yechezkel, Hy”d, acted out of personal religious motives, seeking forgiveness for a series of what he considered to be sins against his Islamic beliefs. Channel 20 revealed the contents of a last will and testament Nalaweh wrote, which was recovered from his home in the village of Shweka, near Tul Karem, by security forces who raided the house in the search for him.

Nalaweh, who murdered the Israelis in a terror attack in the Barkan industrial zone near Ariel in October, was apparently involved in a number of offenses that his family was not aware of, the revelation of which might have gotten him killed at the hands of relatives seeking to avenge the honor of the victims of Nalaweh’s actions, Channel 20 reported. In what amounts to his last will and testament, Nalaweh outlines those offenses, and says that he believed that turning himself into a “martyr” was the best way to achieve forgiveness for those offenses.

“In the name of Allah, mother, father and my brothers – please forgive me. I see no other way to paradise. The death of martyrs forgives their sins. I promised to do terrible things and I met with people to do them. I fell to the temptations of the evil side. Now I have decided to sacrifice myself as penance,” the handwritten letter by Nalaweh said. “Forgive me, my family, for the shame I have brought upon you for my actions. I will miss you, my friends and family, a great deal. Our true home is in paradise and we will meet there,” he wrote.

Investigators have concluded that Nalaweh was somewhat of a social outcast in his village. He constantly fought with family members and with his peers, and had few if any friends, Channel 20 said, quoting security sources. He was unable to keep a job, and had a great deal of difficulty working with others, including at the job he had at the Barkan industrial zone.

Nalaweh is still at large, and intensive efforts to find him have not yet yielded any fruit. In light of the letter, officials are considering the possibility that Nalaweh may have killed himself after the attack, as, according to his beliefs, that would have been the ideal time for him to attain his desired reward.

In the attack, Nalaweh murdered Hajabi and Yechezkel in the offices of Alon Metal Works in the Barkan industrial zone, where he worked. Nalaweh arrived for work in the morning, carrying with him an assault rifle hidden under his clothing. As a regular employee with a work permit, he was admitted to the grounds of the industrial zone without too much scrutiny, security officials told Yediot Acharonot.