Rabbis and council heads in the Hebron area urged the government on Friday to permit the Jewish burial of a 63-year-old Palestinian convert to Judaism after he was mistakenly shot dead Thursday by soldiers who suspected him of being a security risk.
Known as David Ben Avraham by Jews who knew him, his original name was Saamach Zeitoun. After reportedly undergoing conversion by rabbis in Bnei Brak he was arrested, beaten, and abused by the Palestinian Authority in 2019.
Hebron Chief Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Schwartz, alongside Kiryat Arba-Hebron Council head Israel Baramson, and Hebron Council head Eyal Gelman, issued a call to the Israeli government on Friday urging it to ensure Ben-Avraham’s burial in a Jewish cemetery, stating that “David aspired all his life to connect with the Jewish people and underwent great trials for this cause.”
Acknowledging the halachic complexities surrounding the issue, they expressed their desire “to find a solution that is fitting and correct from a Jewish, Israeli, moral, and human perspective.” They concluded by sending their condolences to his family and friends.
Avraham, from Hebron, failed to convert through Israel’s official Chief Rabbinate-approved conversion services, but was able to do so through a private Rabbinic court in Bnei Brak.
Burial in the State of Israel is primarily conducted by religious bodies and is funded by the National Insurance Institute. Cemeteries are operated mainly by religious burial organizations for Jews and the equivalent bodies for other religious communities, and a minority are operated by secular burial companies that operate in civil cemeteries.
Investigations into the shooting
According to an IDF statement, the soldiers shot Zeitoun/Avraham when his conduct raised suspicions.
However, reports indicated that he did nothing particularly suspicious and that they became suspicious simply because he got off a bus in a West Bank location near where Jews lived and where Palestinians did not typically get off.