Scene of the terror attack. (Flash90) (Flash90)
Tel Aviv attack

A Palestinian terrorist took advantage of a program aimed at fostering peace to enter Israel and commit an attack. 

The Palestinian terrorist who stabbed and wounded four Israelis in Tel Aviv on Sunday received a special one-day permit to visit the city as part of a special program to foster peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

The terrorist, a university student from Shechem (Nablus), was in Israel on a tour organized by Natural Peace Tours (NPT), an organization that services inbound traveling and tourism operations for Palestinian groups to Israel. The tours are supposed to foster natural feelings of affinity and enable Palestinians to experience Israel in an uninhibited fashion.

The organization head told Israeli media that the terrorist comes from “a respected family,” that they had no knowledge of his intention to carry out the attack and that they were cooperating with security forces.

The terrorist departed from the group after breakfast, according to NPT. The organizers claim they looked for him after he disappeared, that the attack occurred shortly afterwards and that they had no time to notify police. However, he was missing for hours before he resurfaced and committed the stabbing attack in the late afternoon.

The organizers further said that the Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency) had approved the terrorist’s travel permit and that he was screened by security in the morning, on his way to Tel Aviv.

Following the attack, the IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) suspended similar single-day work permits for Palestinians to enter Israel pending an investigation.

By: United with Israel Staff