Two Bedouins indicted for killing Israeli soldier

Two Bedouin Israelis were indicted for the stabbing death of an Israeli soldier in Arad in southern Israel.

Ron Yitzhak Kokia, 19, of Tel Aviv, was stabbed while waiting for a bus on Nov. 30. The stabbing was a nationalistically motivated terror attack, the Israel Security Agency determined at the time of the attack. The Bedouin men, whose names remained under a gag order until Friday, were captured a day after the stabbing.

The men were named as Khaled Abu Jaudah, 22, from an unrecognised Bedouin village in southern Israel, and his half-brother Zahi Abu Jaudah, 22. They had originally planned to kidnap a soldier or settler and trade him for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Khaled Abu Jaudah stabbed Kokia as the IDF sergeant waited at a bus stop. He was charged Sunday in Beersheba District Court with first-degree murder, attempted murder, possession of a knife, preparing for an act of terror and using a weapon. He has admitted to killing Kokia and stealing his gun. He told interrogators that he committed the attack “out of a desire to do something on behalf of the Palestinians, and as revenge for IDF activities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”

His half-brother was indicted for attempted murder, possession of a knife and obstruction of justice. Neither brother had a history of terror-related activities, according to the ISA.