Tzahi Meats restaurant in Bat Yam
Tzahi Meats restaurant in Bat YamFlash 90

Police on Tuesday filed an indictment against the owner of a Bat Yam restaurant which employed the Arab terrorist who murdered IDF soldier Tomer Hazan in October.

The indictment against Tzahi Antebi, owner of the “Tzahi Bsarim” (Tzahi Meats) restaurant, says that he illegally employed the terrorist, Nadal Amar, a resident of the PA village of Bayt Amin near Kalkilya who had been in Israel without a working permit.

Amar and Hazan worked together at the restaurant when Amar used Hazan’s trust in him to convince the soldier to take a taxi toward Shaarei Tikva, which is close to his home village.

Amar then persuaded the soldier to come to his village, where he then murdered him in an open field and hid his body in a water hole.

After being caught by security forces, Amar confessed to the murder and led security forces to the body. It is believed Amar may have planned to demand that Israel release his brother, a Fatah terrorist who has been imprisoned for a decade, in exchange for Hazan’s body.

Amar at one point claimed he was unaware of his actions, telling his lawyer that another one of his brothers came up with the idea for the abduction as a means of securing the release of their imprisoned brother. The pair were offered 5 million shekel compensation by an anonymous group. 

Hazan’s murder sparked debate over the security risks of employing illegal Arab workers, with calls to try the restaurant's owner as an accessory to murder. An attempt was made to set the restaurant on fire following the murder, but the flames were doused before any damage was done.