Jerusalem – The District Court on Monday sentenced former security guard Hadi Kabalan, “The Kotel shooter,” to life in prison for murdering 46-year-old Doron Ben-Shalush during his June 21, 2013, visit to the Western Wall.
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Kabalan, who was convicted on January 21, 2015 was also ordered to pay NIS 250,000 each to Ben-Shalush’s mother and daughter and NIS 75,000 to his sister.
The prosecution told judges Zvi Segal, Ben-Tzion Greenberger and Arnon Darel in January 2014 that Kabalan had previously met his victim, potentially negating the defense that he might have confused him with being a Muslim terrorist and proving that Kabalan had murdered Ben-Shalush in cold blood.
The indictment, filed on July 4, 2013, said Kabalan and another guard checked Ben-Shalush at the security checkpoint when he arrived at the Western Wall area, as he did on a daily basis.
After the check, Ben-Shalush yelled at the two security guards and used a racial slur against them for being Druse.
The security guards continued their work, during which Kabalan asked two other guards if they would give him NIS 1,000 if he killed Ben-Shalush and said, “I’ll kill him.”
When Ben-Shalush walked by the checkpoint later, Kabalan followed him into a nearby clearing near the bathrooms, and when he was meters away opened fire.
Kabalan fired at the center of Ben-Shalush’s body 14 times, while coming closer and closer to him, and did not stop firing until his magazine was empty.
The police originally thought the shooting may have been the result of a case of mistaken identity.
Kabalan had said he shot Ben-Shalush to death because the 46-year-old shouted “Allahu akbar” and reached into his pocket, thus leading him to believe that Ben-Shalush was a terrorist with a bomb.
But none of the witnesses nearby heard Ben-Shalush call out “Allahu akbar,” and all of the testimony from regulars in the area indicated that while Ben-Shalush was a controversial character, he was completely benign.
The court noted that the place where Kabalan shot Ben-Shalush was a clearing empty of people, making it seem unlikely that Ben-Shalush appeared to be about to blow himself up, if his goal were to kill many people.
Next, the court rejected the idea that other aspects of Ben-Shalush’s appearance and accessories, which Kabalan said he thought indicated Ben-Shalush had a bomb, could reasonably indicate his being a terrorist or justify Kabalan’s shooting him.
They should commute his sentence and instead dress his up like a Charedi, duct tape his mouth shut and drop him off in Ramallah.