Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Parents of African Immigrant Sue Israel — Slain After Being Mistaken for Terrorist

JERUSALEM — The parents of an Eritrean man shot and killed at the scene of a terror attack in Beersheba after being mistaken for the terrorist are suing the state.

The parents of  Haftom Zarhum are asking for $3 million shekel, about $780,000, in damages for the October 2015 killing. The lawsuit includes the Israel Police, the bus station’s security company and the four indicted assailants.

The attacker at the Beersheba bus station, a Bedouin-Israeli, stabbed a soldier and grabbed his M-16 rifle, then opened fire.

Security guards shot Zarhum, who was then beaten by a mob as he was prone on the ground. Video images of the attack show Zarhum incapacitated and lying in a pool of his own blood being kicked by bystanders who thought he was an assailant.

An autopsy found that Zarhum had eight gunshot wounds, two of which were fatal.

The family is also calling on the National Insurance Agency to recognize Zarhum as a victim of terror, which would offer additional compensation to the family. The agency has said it would not recognize Zarhum because he had entered the country illegally.

An Israeli soldier, a prison guard officer and two civilians were arrested and [indicted](http://www.jta.org/2016/01/12/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/israeli-soldier-3-others-indicted-in-beating-of-eritrean-mistaken-for-terrorist emds “”) for the murder of Zarhum. His killing led to some national soul searching.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.