2002 Beit She'an Attack

The attack occurred during the Second Intifada, a period of Palestinian terrorist violence that began in September 2000.[1] During that confrontation, Fatah operatives carried out attacks under the name al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which a 2004 Israeli government document described as a generic designation for Fatah field operatives.[1]

November 28, 2002, was the date of the Likud leadership primary between incumbent Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[2] The Beit She'an branch was preparing to receive hundreds of party members that afternoon. A Mako retrospective reported that security agencies, including the Shin Bet, had warned of possible attacks around the country and in Beit She'an, and that five older security guards had been brought to the branch.[3] Earlier that day, terrorists attacked the Paradise Hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, and fired shoulder-launched missiles at an Arkia civilian airliner.[3]

At approximately 3:20 p.m., two Fatah terrorists arrived in a stolen Mazda near the Likud branch and Beit She'an's central bus station.[4] Palestinian sources identified them as cousins Yusuf and Omar Abu al-Rub from Jalbun, east of Jenin, and reported that one was a Palestinian Authority special police officer.[4] Armed with two loaded Kalashnikov rifles and dozens of full magazines, the pair had bypassed a checkpoint and considered but abandoned an attack at a nearby supermarket after seeing an armed guard.[3]

After seeing the crowd at the Likud branch, they stopped the car, got out, and began the assault.[3] One attacker threw a grenade toward the branch while both men opened fire inside and outside the building. The security guard at the entrance was shot and killed when he tried to stop the attack.[3] Survivor Gabriel Zada was critically wounded and then approached by an attacker who shot him four additional times in the legs.[3]

Border Police officer Eran David, then 28 and on short leave near his home, heard the shooting and ran toward the branch with his weapon.[3] Mako's retrospective credits him with shooting the first attacker at close range and then the second near the entrance.[3] Contemporaneous Ynet reporting recorded conflicting accounts: David said he shot both attackers, veterinarian Amit Dadon said he shot one attacker who was wounded on the ground, and Likud activist Gabi Dayan said a Likud member killed one.[4] Police subsequently sealed the area, searched for a suspected third attacker, and blew up the attackers' car.[4]

Six Israeli civilians were killed.[5][4] They were Haim Amar, 56; Ehud (Yehuda) Avitan, 54; Mordechai Avraham (Abraham), 44; Ya'acov Lary (Yaakov Lari), 35; David Peretz, 48 — all residents of Beit She'an — and Shaul Zilberstein, 36, from Upper Nazareth, who was the security guard at the branch entrance.[5][4] About 40 people were wounded; Ynet reported that approximately ten were in serious condition and that three sons of former minister David Levy were among the injured.[5][4]

Gabriel Zada, one of the critically wounded survivors, was evacuated to Rambam Hospital, underwent 18 operations on his head and right leg, and spent about four years in rehabilitation.[3] In a 2020 retrospective, Zada credited Eran David with preventing a larger massacre and said that dozens more people might have been killed without his intervention.[3] David received the police Medal of Courage for his actions.[3]

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, described by Ynet as Fatah's armed wing, claimed responsibility and said the attack was retaliation for the killing of two senior Fatah and Hamas figures in Jenin two days earlier.[4] A 2004 Israeli government document also attributed the attack to Fatah operatives and explained that such operatives used the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades name during the confrontation.[1]

Later reports linked Zakaria Zubeidi, a former commander of the Fatah-aligned group in Jenin, to the attack. The Jerusalem Post reported that Zubeidi organized attacks including what it described as a suicide bombing at the Beit She'an Likud branch.[6] The Times of Israel said he was thought to have been involved in what it described as a 2002 bombing at the branch.[7] Neither report provides further detail about his specific operational role.

In the immediate aftermath, the Palestinian Authority issued a strong condemnation, while Fatah supporters in Jenin celebrated with a procession and car horns.[4] At the scene, clashes broke out between residents and police as officers tried to clear the area; some people shouted anti-Arab slogans and attempted to attack journalists and photographers.[4]

A Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs retrospective argued that the attacks on the day of the primary did not affect its outcome. Sharon defeated Netanyahu with 55% of the vote to Netanyahu's 40%, matching the result predicted by pre-election polls.[8] The White House issued a statement on November 28 condemning the terrorist attack at a Likud Party polling place in northern Israel.[9]

The attack was subsequently included among the acts of terrorism attributed to Fatah and its armed wing during the Second Intifada. A 2004 Israeli government document listed the Beit She'an attack among the incidents it used to describe Fatah's operational role in the violence of that period.[1]

Sources differ on several details. A White House statement dated November 28, 2002, referred to the Likud polling-place attack as occurring “today.”[9] The Jewish Virtual Library also dates the attack to November 28, and its election timeline confirms that the Likud leadership primary took place that day.[5][2] A Congressional Research Service chronology instead places the attack on November 29.[10] The November 28 date used in this article is therefore supported by the contemporaneous White House statement and the confirmed primary date, while the CRS discrepancy remains part of the record.

Casualty totals also vary. The Jewish Virtual Library and Ynet name six people killed, with the former reporting about 40 wounded.[5][4] CAMERA lists five killed and 40 wounded, while the CRS chronology reports four killed and 36 wounded.[11][10] The higher death toll reflects the final list of six named victims in the Jewish Virtual Library and Ynet accounts.

Descriptions of the method are inconsistent as well. The 2004 Israeli government document calls the incident “double suicide bombing attacks,” and a later Jerusalem Post report calls it a suicide bombing.[1][6] By contrast, the Jewish Virtual Library and contemporaneous Ynet report that two terrorists opened fire with Kalashnikov rifles and threw grenades.[5][4] Ynet attributed the attackers' names to Palestinian sources and reported the brigade's responsibility claim and retaliatory explanation; those details should therefore be understood as reported attributions rather than independently documented operational findings.[4]