As YWN reported on Tuesday evening, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel revealed that the border control officers at Ben-Gurion Airport tried to prevent the entry of the terrorist who carried out the stabbing attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night but the Shin Bet claimed that “there was no information preventing his entry on security grounds.”

Further details about the terrorist, Abdelaziz Kaddi, 29, a Moroccan citizen with a US green card, were revealed in Israeli media reports.

Kaddi arrived in Israel on a connecting flight from Poland only three days before the attack. When questioned at the airport, he failed to provide any information about where he planned on staying in Israel such as information about relatives or the address of a hostel, which raised the suspicions of the border control officers. He also did not provide a clear reason for his visit and did not identify anyone he knew in the country or whether he intended to work in Israel.

Minister Arbel noted that the border control officers identified Kaddi as a threat and sought to prevent his entry into Israel. They transferred him to the Shin for security questioning.

“Unfortunately, security authorities decided otherwise,” Arbel said. “I urge Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar to investigate this grave incident and draw lessons from it as soon as possible.”

The Shin Bet’s decision is especially puzzling in light of a Ynet report revealing that Abdelaziz had previously shared anti-Israel and pro-terror content on social media.

In one post, he accused Israel of starving civilians in northern Gaza and claimed that “half a million Gazans are at risk of dying from hunger.” He also shared a video praising Islam accompanied by the slogan “Free Palestine” and a photo of slain terrorist Ibrahim al-Nabulsi.

Following the October 7 Hamas terror attack, Abdelaziz shared a post referring to the events as a potential reason for “doubling the number of martyrs for Islam.”

His Facebook profile was deleted shortly after the attack.

The Shin Bet responded: “At the time of the subject’s entry into Israel, a security assessment was carried out which included questioning as well as additional checks, after which it was decided that there were no information that would justify preventing his entry into Israel on security grounds. The case will be investigated.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)