Terrorist in Tel Aviv attack used to work in a middle school in Kiryat Ono

Yusef Abu Jaber was identified as the terrorist who carried out the attack on Friday night in Tel Aviv in which a tourist was murdered and seven other people were injured.

The 45-year-old terrorist from Kafr Kassem is an Arab-Israeli resident with no previous criminal background, who worked until about a year ago as a janitor in a middle school in Kiryat Ono. The attack happened in two separate scenes in Tel Aviv, the first on Charles Clore Street and the second on Kaufmann Street in the city.

"My children know him well," wrote one of the mothers of children at the school. "My son knows him, there are even videos of the kids making jokes with him," added another mother. "Shocking and scary," was written in one of the Facebook groups intended for the city's residents, as a response to a post on the subject.

The investigation of the incident reveals that Abu Jaber drove from north to south near the Charles Clore Promenade, drove onto the sidewalk and hit the tourists who were there. After that, he continued to drive on the bike path, and lost control of the vehicle. After his vehicle was overturned, he was apprehended by a police officer who was near the scene. The officer shot Abu Jaber as he appeared to be reaching for a gun. Tel Aviv municipal security guards also assisted in apprehending him.

Terrorist's family distance themselves from him

Abu Jaber was from Bedouin family originally from the Negev. The family moved many years ago to the Kafr Kassem area and settled there. The news that came from Tel Aviv shocked the family members. At first, they refused to believe it - they assumed that the car was stolen and that it was an identification mistake. Since the police appeared near the family's house in Kfar Kassem and official reports appeared, they have not made any further comment or appeared for public statement. They asked to send a representative to identify the body at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir.

"He is a normal guy. A business owner. He used to have a CD and music store. His uncle was killed a few days ago by a falling air conditioner in a work accident in the city, and he was sitting in the family home in mourning. We hoped it wasn't him or anyone from Kafr Kassem," said a local teacher to Walla. "It's a shame. It's an unfortunate incident. It's impossible to understand something like this and it's impossible to understand what was going through his mind. Let's hope it's an individual incident and not related to anyone else here."

The mayor of Kafr Kassem, Adel Badir, also commented on the attack and the possibility that a resident of the village carried it out. "We strongly condemn the serious ramming attack that took place tonight, send our condolences to the family of the deceased, and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. We condemn any harm to innocent lives and call for tolerance from all sides. This is not the way of the residents of Kafr Kassem. The city was and remains a place for coexistence and pursuing peace," he said.