Abdelrahman Shaludeh, the terrorist who carried out Wednesday’s attack in Jerusalem, was very active on social media making no secret of his hatred of Israel and of Jews, and his desire to participate in terror attacks.
Wednesday’s attack occurred when Shaludeh arrived with his car at the Givat Hatachmoshet (Ammunition Hill) Light Rail stop and ran over the people who were there, killing three-month-old Chaya Zisel Braun and injuring eight others.
A Jerusalem police officer shot Shaludeh as he attempted to flee from the scene on foot. The terrorist died in a hospital later on Wednesday.
A report in Yediot Achronot Thursday quoted Twitter and Facebook posts of the 20-year-old Shaludeh, an Arab resident of Shiloach (Silwan) who was a legal Jerusalem resident. In his last post on a social media site frequented by Islamists, for example, he wrote “now is the time to defend your home, Muslims – go out on a crusade to protect the Al-Aqsa mosque” from Jews who sought to pray on the Temple Mount.
The day before the attack, he posted a link to a video published by the Al Aqsa Brigade terror group – closely associated with Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah group. The clip displayed terrorists in training. Slodi’s comment: “See how the Al Aqsa fighters train for suicide missions” to carry out against Israeli targets.
Speaking to Israel Radio, Israeli security officials said that Shaludeh was known to authorities, and officials believe that he acted on his own.