Shocking: Bar-Ilan lecturer indicted over plot to kill hundreds of Arabs and Palestinians

A mathematics lecturer at Bar-Ilan University has been indicted over an alleged plot to kill hundreds of Arab citizens of Israel, East Jerusalem residents and Palestinians in a campaign intended to force them to flee.

The defendant, a Petah Tikva resident in his 60s, was charged Monday in an indictment filed by Central District prosecutors Roy Reis and Tomer Steinberg. Prosecutors allege that he developed the plan out of a nationalist and ideological motive and made extensive preparations before his arrest about two weeks ago.

According to the indictment, the defendant’s intentions were shaped by the unrest surrounding Operation Guardian of the Walls and intensified during the subsequent war. Beginning in February 2023, he allegedly drafted detailed planning documents, surveyed a potential target and attempted to recruit participants.

He named the scheme “AIT,” an acronym translated as “A People Will Perform Transfer.” Its stated aim, prosecutors say, was to trigger the flight and permanent expulsion of Arab citizens of Israel, including Bedouins, as well as East Jerusalem residents and Palestinians, to Jordan, Lebanon and Gaza.

The alleged plan envisioned 72 armed Jewish attackers divided into 12 cells carrying out simultaneous attacks in mixed cities and Arab communities across Israel. It also proposed recruiting collaborators within the military to support the attacks. The indictment describes this as part of the defendant’s intended scheme, rather than evidence that military personnel agreed to participate.

Prosecutors say the documents explicitly advocated killing civilians, including women and children. The defendant allegedly intended for coverage of the attacks on social media to spread fear and prompt a wider exodus.

For approximately a year and a half, he tried unsuccessfully to recruit supporters and partners, according to the indictment. He also allegedly visited the vicinity of Tuba-Zangariyye to assess the area as a potential target.

The indictment further alleges that the defendant sought to enlist Zehut party leader Moshe Feiglin and use his connections to recruit additional participants. He attended two public events featuring Feiglin and attempted to arrange a meeting to present a summary of the plan. Feiglin did not respond to his requests, prosecutors say.

About a month ago, the defendant allegedly wrote Feiglin a threatening letter demanding cooperation. According to prosecutors, he threatened to circulate the letter to damage Feiglin’s public standing ahead of the elections.

Two days later, he allegedly went to Feiglin’s home and gave the letter to a passing neighbor, who delivered it. He subsequently attended a Zehut event at Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market, where he allegedly passed copies of the letter and a further threatening message to the party’s chief executive through another woman.

Prosecutors also allege that the defendant took steps to conceal his activities, including handwriting documents, using a false name, disguising his appearance during recruitment meetings and borrowing other people’s phones.

In seeking his detention until the end of proceedings, the Central District Prosecutor’s Office argued that the alleged preparations and the ideology behind them demonstrated an immediate danger to the public and the state.