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Eden Natan-Zada

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Eden Natan-Zada (c. 1985 – August 4, 2005) was an AWOL Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier who opened fire in a bus in the northern Israeli town of Shfar'am on August 4, 2005, killing two Christian and two Muslim Israeli Arab civilians and wounding several others. He was beaten to death by an angry crowd immediately after the attack. The shooting is believed to have been in protest of the Israeli government's disengagement plan.

No group has taken credit for the attack, and most officials in the settler movement have denounced it. Natan-Zada was absent without leave and in hiding from the IDF at the time of the shooting. He had recently become religious after getting involved with far-right activists, some of whom may be former members of the disbanded Kach party.

Early life

Natan-Zada's parents describe him as having been a "bright and studious Israeli schoolboy" prior to his becoming involved with Kahanism, to which he was introduced via the internet. [Kahane supporters claim a deliberate attempt to de-legitimize Kahanism, and explain that murdering innocents is abhored by Kahanist ideology, which advocates transfer of Arabs, and condemns terrorism.] He then began spending weekends in Kfar Tapuach, an Orthodox West Bank settlement where he eventually hid to avoid further service in the IDF. According to Matthew Gutman of the Jerusalem Post newspaper, Kfar Tapuach "became the unofficial headquarters of Kahane Chai in 1990," but supporters deny the existance of a Kahane headquarters.

His mother claims that prior to the shooting she alerted the IDF and other security services that her son was still carrying the M-16. "We told everyone he's AWOL, that he could do something with his gun. We begged them to take away his gun. He also asked them to take his gun. The army destroyed my child. The army destroyed my life."

The Shfar'am attack

File:Turki sisters zada victims.jpg
Sisters Hazar (left) and Dina (right) Turki, both killed during Natan-Zada's shooting.

Natan-Zada boarded the Shfar'am-bound bus on Thursday, August 14. He was dressed in full IDF uniform, carrying his IDF-issued M-16 rifle, and, according to observers, wearing the skullcap, beard and sidelocks of a religiously-observant Jew. He opened fire on the driver shortly after the bus entered Shfar'am, then turned on the bus' passengers; the driver and two passengers were killed instantly, and a third passenger died from sustained gunshot wounds. When he paused to reload his weapon, Natan-Zada was subdued by streetgoers gathered around the scene of the bus shooting. When the police arrived at the scene he was tied and still alive, but the small police force couldn't prevent the crowd from killing him.

According to witnesses, the bus driver was initially surprised to see a religiously-observant Jewish soldier making his way to Shfar'am (an overwhelmingly Israeli-Arab city) via public bus, so he asked Natan-Zada if he was certain he wanted to take his current route.

The four murdered victims were Hazar Turki and Dina Turki, two sisters in their early twenties, and two men, Michel Bahus (the bus driver) and Nader Hayek; all were Israeli citizens. In the days after the attack, 40,000 Arabs amassed enormous funeral services to all of the victims in the town; the two sisters were buried in an Islamic cemetery, and the two men were buried in the local Christian cemetery.

Israeli government reaction

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon unequivocally condemned Natan-Zada's actions, calling them "a reprehensible act by a bloodthirsty Jewish terrorist," and "a deliberate attempt to harm the fabric of relations among all Israeli citizens." Sharon's government has consistently referred to the shooting as "an act of terrorism," language usually reserved for Palestinian suicide bombers. The vast majority of Jewish organizations worldwide, both secular and religious, have likewise denounced his actions.

Burial controversy

Natan-Zada's funeral is a controversial matter. Jewish law requires a swift burial, but nationwide outrage against his attacks left his body without a willing resting place for three days.

An initial agreement between IDF officials and the Zada family would have allowed burial in a military cemetery, but with no military honors such as a 21-gun salute or placement of the Israeli flag upon his coffin. The Israeli Government quickly revoked this offer after investigation of the attack, refusing him a military funeral or burial in a military cemetery; defence minister Shaul Mofaz described him as a deserter "unworthy to be buried next to the fallen soldiers of Israel's wars." Meir Nitzan, the mayor of Rishon Le Zion followed suit, banning his funeral and refusing to accept his body.

Authorities at Kfar Tapuach have also disavowed any connection to him. Kfar Tapuah spokesman Moshe Meirsdorf said Natan-Zada's connection to the community "has been destructive for us. We totally reject him and everything he did." The settlement's leadership claims that Natan-Zada and other extremist youth were not official community members, despite the fact that Natan-Zada had legally updated his address to Kfar Tapuah. "He was never accepted by the absorption committee," said Meirsdorf, whose wife is a member of the committee. He added that Natan-Zada's burial would occur in Kfar Tapuach only "over my dead body."

Some Israeli media outlets have suggested that Natan-Zada be buried in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, where Baruch Goldstein, the Jewish extremist who shot dead 29 and wounded 100 Muslim worshipers in the Mosque of Abraham massacre 11 years ago, is buried. Natan-Zada's body resided for three days in a police morgue, pending an appeal to Prime Minister Sharon by his parents. On August 7, 2005, the Prime Minister's Bureau overruled Meir Nitzan's ban and decreed that Zada should be buried in a civilian cemetary in Rishon LeTzion. He was buried in the Gordon neighborhood.

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