Zion Square refrigerator bombing

The Zion Square refrigerator bombing was a terrorist attack in downtown Jerusalem, Israel on Friday, July 4, 1975 in which 15 civilians were killed and 77 wounded.

The attack

An Arab terrorist exploded a booby-trapped refrigerator contained five kilograms of explosives in Zion Square in the center of Jerusalem, killing 15 people and wounding 77. A Jewish passerby, Shabtai Levi, helped the terrorist hoist the refrigerator onto the sidewalk. The refrigerator aroused the suspicions of Esther Landner and Yehuda Warshovsky, who worked near Zion Square. Landner called the police but as she was answering their questions, the refrigerator blew up.^[1]

Fatalities

Among the dead were Rivka (nee Soifer) Ben-Yitzhak, 35, an American citizen, and her husband, Michael, who left behind two small children.^[2]The Ben-Yitzhak Award, presented annually to an outstanding children's book illustrator by the Israel Museum, was established in their memory.^[3]Daoud Khoury, an Arab accountant at the King David Hotel, was also killed in the attack. ^[4]

Perpetrators

Palestinian militant group PLO claimed responsibility for the attack, which was executed by Ahmed Jabara (Abu Sukar).

Israel freed Ahmed Jabara from prison in 2003 as a gesture to Yasser Arafat.^[5]Shortly after his release, Jabara called for the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers at a rally in Bethlehem that was widely covered by the Palestinian media.^[6]

External links

• 13 killed by bomb in Israel - published on The Baltimore Sun on July 5, 1975
• 13 Die, Scores Hurt in Jerusalem Blast - published on the New York Times on July 5, 1975
• 13 Die in Jerusalem Bombing - published on the Los Angeles Times on July 5, 1975

References