arrest (illustration)
arrest (illustration)Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90

Udai Mubarsham, a resident of the village of Jadeidi-Makr in northern Israel, was arrested in February as part of a joint operation by the Shin Bet (ISA) and the Israel Police.

During his interrogation by the police and Shin Bet, it emerged that the suspect had planned to carry out a shooting attack at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, against police officers and/or Jewish civilians during Ramadan, using a gun in his possession in order to express his identification with the Palestinian cause and in the event that Muslim prayers on the Temple Mount would not be allowed during the month of Ramadan.

The investigation also revealed that in order to further his plan, he purchased an illegal weapon and trained in how to use it effectively. The gun was later seized from the possession of his brother, who was also arrested.

The suspect also tried to recruit additional people involved in carrying out the attack. These recruits were located and detained for questioning on suspicion of being part of the cell.

After exhausting all investigative activities, the police and Shin Bet succeeded in forming an evidentiary case against the suspects, and in the process, the Haifa District Attorney's Office filed an indictment against Udai and his brother, the latter for helping him hide the gun in his possession.

A Shin Bet source said that "this is a significant foiling in light of the assessment that if his plan to carry out the attack had been carried out during Ramadan, it could have undermined the peace and led to a dangerous escalation in the Jerusalem area during a period of high-security tensions."