Tel Aviv synagogue terrorist: 'I wanted to die as a martyr'
Raed Musalma who killed two at the Panorama Building: 'I was sure they would kill me'; he apologized for his act.
Raed Musalma, the terrorist who murdered Aharon Yisayev, 32, and Aviram Reuven, 51, in the attack outside the synagogue of the Panorama Building in Tel Aviv on November 19, expressed remorse during his interrogation saying he intended to die as a martyr.
Musalma, a father of five from Dura in the Hebron area, was residing in Israel legally. Initially it was suspected that he worked at a restaurant near the Panorama building, but it turned out that he only knew people who worked there. On the day of the attack Musalma, carrying a knife, entered through the main entrance of the building, went upstairs to the synagogue where he stabbed two people. He went downstairs, stabbed another man and was caught by Ron Balisa, the owner of a shoe store there.
During his interrogation the terrorist told police he wanted to die as a martyr, but the police there did not kill him. "I was sure they would kill me," he told his interrogators. "I apologize for what I did." He also said "it was my own idea, nobody sent me." His arrest was extended Wednesday for a week.
Superintendent Asaf Bernas, head of the attack's investigative team said that "in our investigations we looked at him and we tried to understand what had come over a 36-year-old man, married with five children, with a valid resident permit to carry out an attack. Up to now we have not received a satisfactory answer. The only thing he said was 'I came to kill Jews, I want to be a martyr'. I am able to tell you that he apologized, but how can one accept such an apology?"
Shimon Vaknin, who prayed in the building's makeshift synagogue recounted on the day of the attack that the terrorist came up to the fourth floor with a knife and stabbed anyone who crossed his path. One of the wounded ran into the synagogue, and the worshipers who realized what was going on closed the door.
"A minute after we started prayer a person covered in blood fell on the worshipers. One of us saw a terrorist with an enormous knife trying to enter the synagogue and we managed to close the door. We were ten people holding the door, but he was strong and pushed trying to get in. Some of the worshipers took care of the wounded man lying on the floor, putting a rag and some clothes on his wounds."
