State Attorney Shai Nitzan ruled Wednesday that the Arab woman from Nazareth who three weeks ago stood with a drawn knife in front of soldiers at Afula's Central station is not a terrorist, but instead tried to commit suicide.
The Arab woman, Asraa Zidan, was captured on film as she stood with the knife at one of the station's platforms and shouted "terrorists," before approaching security members menacingly. She was shot in the leg and moderately wounded.
According to a source in the state attorney's office, an examination of the video evidence shows that in the first minutes of her presence at the station she could have stabbed a haredi Jew who stood next to her.
However, the woman instead chose not to do so, and instead brandished her knife and shouted.
As a result, the Israel Security Agency (ISA) and police have estimated that she did not intend to conduct a terrorist attack, but rather sought to commit suicide by threatening security forces and being shot.
In the past the woman was documented as having tried to commit suicide several times, and she was even hospitalized due to her attempts.
In light of these considerations, the state attorney's office decided that she is not a terrorist.