On July 4, 1975, a Palestinian terrorist exploded a booby-trapped refrigerator which contained five kilograms of explosives inside an appliance store at

Zion Square Zion Square ( he, כיכר ציון, ''Kikar Tziyon'') is a public square in Jerusalem, located at the intersection of Jaffa Road, Ben Yehuda Street, Herbert Samuel Street, and Yoel Moshe Salomon Street. The square is one of the vertices of ...

in the center of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, killing 15 people and wounding 77.

The attack

A Jewish passerby, Shabtai Levi, helped a Palestinian man bring a booby-trapped refrigerator into an appliance store at

in the center of

. The refrigerator aroused the suspicions of Esther Landner and Yehuda Warshovsky, who worked near

. Landner called the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

but as she was answering their questions, the refrigerator blew up.

Fatalities

Among the dead were Rivka (née Soifer) Ben-Yitzhak, 35, an American citizen, and her husband, Michael, who left behind two small children. The Ben-Yitzhak Award, presented annually to an outstanding children's book illustrator by the Israel Museum, was established in their memory. Daoud Khoury, an Arab accountant at the

King David Hotel The King David Hotel ( he, מלון המלך דוד, Malon ha-Melekh David; ar, فندق الملك داود) is a 5-star hotel in Jerusalem and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. Opened in 1931, the hotel was built with locally qua ...

, was also killed in the attack.

Perpetrators

Palestinian militant group PLO claimed responsibility for the attack. Later on it was revealed that the attack was executed by the

Arab-American Arab Americans ( ar, عَرَبٌ أَمْرِيكِا or ) are Americans of Arab ancestry. Arab Americans trace ancestry to any of the various waves of immigrants of the countries comprising the Arab World. According to the Arab American Ins ...

Ahmed Jabara, aka Abu Sukar, whom originated from Turmus Ayya. Jabara was assisted by Bassem Tabila of Nablus, who fled to Jordan before he could be arrested. Following an investigation by

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; he, שֵׁירוּת הַבִּיטָּחוֹן הַכְּלָלִי; ''Sherut ha-Bitaẖon haKlali''; "the General Security Service"; ar, جهاز الأمن العام), better known by the acronym Shabak ( he, ...

and the

Israel Police The Israel Police ( he, משטרת ישראל, ''Mišteret Yisra'el''; ar, شرطة إسرائيل, ''Shurtat Isrāʼīl'') is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fightin ...

, Jabara was arrested and put on trial before a military court in June 1977. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison and an additional 30 years. In 2003, Ahmed Jabara was released from prison after having served 27 years, as a gesture of the Israeli government toward

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

. Shortly after his release, Jabara called for the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers at a rally in

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

that was widely covered by the Palestinian media. Arafat subsequently appointed him adviser on prisoner affairs. Jabara died of a heart attack in Ramallah on July 17, 2013, at age 78.

References

External links

13 killed by bomb in Israel
- published on

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...

on July 5, 1975
13 Die, Scores Hurt in Jerusalem Blast
- published on the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

on July 5, 1975
13 Die in Jerusalem Bombing
- published on the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

on July 5, 1975 {{Palestinian militancy attacks in the 1970s Mass murder in 1975 Israeli–Palestinian conflict Terrorist attacks attributed to Palestinian militant groups Terrorist incidents in Jerusalem 20th century in Jerusalem Zion Square Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1975 1970s in Jerusalem Terrorist incidents in Jerusalem in the 1970s

The attack

Fatalities

Perpetrators

See also

References

External links