Who is the taxi driver who drove Jerusalem terrorist to police?

SHLOMI HELLER/WALLA!, YIFAT ROSENBERG/WALLA

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“They took the weapon and the taxi along with me. Wasn’t it enough that I lost three hours in the morning?” said the driver.

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A taxi driver collects a passenger near the Jerusalem Bus Station / (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Shalom Harush, the taxi driver who drove the terrorist who carried out the attack in Jerusalem to the police station on Sunday morning, told Walla about the trip, which in retrospect turned out to be particularly scary.

So what happened?

According to Harush, the terrorist Amir Sidawi, a 26-year-old from east Jerusalem, got into the taxi on Bait Street in Jerusalem, near Sha’are Zedek Medical Center.

“I picked him up at 7:20 a.m. and dropped him off at 7:32 with a receipt,” he explained. “He wanted to get to the police station. I dropped him off at the police station. He told them, and they must have seen the cameras – police cars came out after me and searched and found the killer’s gun.”

“I received encouragement from all over the State of Israel,” said Harush, adding that, in spite of that, “the feeling is not good.

“They took the weapon and the taxi along with me. Wasn’t it enough that I lost three hours in the morning? A gun and a knife. I wanted to take pictures before that, but the police didn’t agree. They said it would ruin the investigation.”

Israeli security forces at the scene of a shooting attack outside Jerusalem Old City, August 14,2022. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

Sidawi’s detention has been extended by 12 days. He is suspected with the charges of planning a terrorist act, attempted murder and causing injury in an attempt to cause the death of another. Sidawi has denied all charges.

At the same time, police have launched a ballistics test to verify that the shooting was carried out with the gun seized in the taxi. According to an investigation conducted on the terrorist, who worked in welding, he has a criminal record. His Facebook account shows that yesterday he was still interested in a gym in a Jewish neighborhood in the city.

In the attack carried out by Sidawi, eight people were injured, two of them in serious condition.

According to security officials, “he felt the pressure on him and his immediate environment” following the intensifying manhunt by the security forces.

“We raided the house of his brother and sister, we closed all the places he could think of escaping to, including outside the Jerusalem area. The pressure on him resulted in him turning himself in.” Three members of his family were arrested, including his mother.

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