State Sues Terrorists Over 1984 Murder of Soldier Moshe Tamam

The State Attorney’s Office filed a civil lawsuit on Thursday in Haifa Magistrate’s Court for about 2.06 million shekels against four Palestinian terrorists involved in the 1984 kidnapping and murder of Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam. The case was filed on behalf of the Defense Ministry, which is seeking reimbursement for benefits paid, and still to be paid, to Tamam’s bereaved parents.

Tamam was abducted on August 6, 1984, while hitchhiking home from army leave near Netanya. According to the judgment, four members of a cell from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine picked him up, drew guns, tied his hands, and blindfolded him. The cell was directed by Walid Daka, who had been sent to Syria with orders to kidnap an Israeli soldier and transfer him to Syria for leverage, and if that failed, to kill him.

After the kidnappers realized the plan was collapsing and feared exposure, they decided to execute Tamam. He was held for several days in a house in Baqa al-Gharbiyye, then on August 8 was taken to the area of Mevo Dotan in the northern West Bank and shot at close range in an olive grove near the settlement. His body was found days later after an extensive search.

The attackers were arrested in 1986, with weapons, explosives, and other arms found in their possession. In 1987 they were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. The court found that Daka was a full participant in the kidnapping and murder, even though he was not at the killing scene, and that he passed on the order to kill Tamam if the mission failed. The state now says the public should not bear the financial cost of their crimes.