Shin Bet to investigate guard in Jordan shooting
Initial investigation reveals the security guard was justified in shooting his attacker, while the Jordanian landlord tried to stop the stabber when he was hit by shrapnel and killed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tasked the Shin Bet with investigating the shooting at the Israeli embassy in Amman, when a security guard shot dead two Jordanians, one of whom attacked him with a screwdriver.
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan are personally supervising the investigation and monitoring its sensitive political aspects.
In diplomatic discussions over the weekend, Israel promised the Jordanians it will conduct a comprehensive and transparent investigation into the incident, and that it will pass the investigation's findings to Amman.
Last week, the Jordanians claimed it was a truck driver who stabbed the security guard, not the 17-year-old Mohammad Jawawdah who was shot dead along with the building's landlord. But by the end of the week, their version changed and is now mostly in line with the Israeli version.
The initial investigation found the security guard's actions were justified: Jawawdah, who was there to install furniture, had sneaked up behind the guard and stabbed him with a screwdriver. The guard, Ziv, pulled out his handgun and shot him in response. The
In addition to the truck driver, who worked with Jawawdah, the Jordanian owner of the building was also present at the time of the shooting.
He tackled the attacker and tried to stop him, but was unfortunately hit by shrapnel and fatally wounded. He was given first aid by members of the Israeli embassy, but succumbed to his wounds shortly thereafter.
Senior Israeli security officials explained the guard could not have foreseen shrapnel would harm the landlord, adding that Israel intends to pay a generous compensation to the family of the landlord, who was trying to protect the Israeli guard.
The same sources said the motive for the stabbing was nationalistic, with the stabber attacking over the crisis on the Temple Mount and not because of an argument over the delay in transporting the furniture—as the Jordanians initially claimed. The Jordanians' claim that the security guard's gun was not licensed was also rejected, after documents proved otherwise.
Jordan, meanwhile, has conditioned the return of Israeli diplomats and emissaries to the Amman embassy in the guard being put on trial, as the Jordanian prosecutor accused him of murdering two Jordanian civilians. Israel, meanwhile, promised an investigation and noted the guard would be prosecuted only if the law dictates it.
