Israel Sues Killers of Soldier Moshe Tamam, 41 Years After His Murder

Israel filed a civil lawsuit on Thursday in the Haifa Magistrate’s Court for about 2 million shekels against four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who kidnapped and murdered soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984. The suit, brought by the State Attorney’s Office on behalf of the Defense Ministry, seeks to recover money the state has paid and continues to pay to Tamam’s bereaved parents, Galya and Eliyahu, for the financial damage caused by the killing. The claim comes in addition to the life sentences imposed on the defendants in the criminal case in 1987.

The defendants are convicted terrorists Ibrahim Abd al-Razaq Biadsa, Ibrahim Naif Abu Mukh and Saleh, formerly Rushdi, Abu Mukh, as well as the heirs of Walid Nimer Asaad Daka, who led the cell and ordered Tamam’s murder. Daka died in 2024 while serving his sentence. The civil case was filed by attorney Einat Shterman-Cohen of the Haifa District Prosecutor’s Office.

According to the lawsuit, the four, then residents of Baqa al-Gharbia, kidnapped Tamam in August 1984 while he was waiting for a ride near Netanya. They tied him up, blindfolded him and held him for two days, then took him to an olive grove near Mevo Dotan, where they murdered him after keeping him captive for five days and left his body there. They were later convicted of multiple offenses and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The state is asking the court to order the defendants to reimburse the payments made to Tamam’s parents under the Families of Soldiers Fallen in Battle law, as well as future payments the state will continue to bear. The filing argues that those who kidnapped and murdered Tamam, causing severe loss to his family, should bear the financial consequences themselves, not the public. It also says the crimes reflect a profound human and moral collapse and a grave attack on the sanctity of life and bodily and mental integrity. The petition cites the original sentencing, which described the murder as a horrific, cold-blooded killing by Israeli citizens, planned in advance and carried out because Tamam was a soldier in the IDF.