The Jerusalem District Court has convicted Salam Gaber, a resident of eastern Jerusalem, of carrying out a violent attack that included arson and the attempted murder of a police officer.
According to the ruling, Gaber first set fire to his uncle’s car amid an ongoing family dispute. When police and fire crews arrived at the scene, he attacked one of the responding officers, stabbing him twice in the neck and upper back with a sharp piece of broken glass.
The court rejected the defense’s argument that Gaber’s actions stemmed from psychological distress or suicidal intent. Instead, the judges determined that the attack was premeditated and driven by nationalist motives.
The incident took place in March 2022. A day earlier, Gaber posted on Facebook an image of the Dome of the Rock along with a Quranic verse, writing that he was preparing for the day of his death. The following day, he went to the Ras al-Amud neighborhood, where he set his uncle’s car on fire.
Evidence presented during the trial showed that Gaber waited approximately 20 minutes for emergency responders to arrive, while armed with a 15-centimeter shard of glass. Security footage captured him approaching an officer from behind and stabbing him twice with apparent intent to kill. Gaber fled only after officers drew their weapons.
During the trial, the defense claimed Gaber had been under the influence of drugs and suffering from severe depression linked to family issues. His lawyer argued that he had been attempting “suicide by cop," hoping officers would shoot him. Gaber himself denied any nationalist motive, stating that if he had intended to carry out a terror attack, he would have chosen a different location.
However, the panel of judges dismissed this version of events. They concluded that the defendant’s actions, including waiting armed for police and targeting a vulnerable area of the body, demonstrated clear intent and planning.
The court also cited Gaber’s own statements during interrogation, in which he referred to the police officer as “a symbol of the state" and expressed a desire to die as a martyr. Combined with his social media post, this supported the conclusion that the attack was ideologically motivated and qualified as terrorism under Israeli law.
Gaber was ultimately convicted of multiple offenses, including attempted murder as an act of terrorism, arson, causing intentional bodily harm, and breaking into a vehicle.
In their decision, the judges emphasized that even if Gaber was experiencing personal distress, it did not negate the ideological and nationalist motives behind what they described as a deliberate and life-threatening attack on a law enforcement officer.