April 12, 1984
Armed with knives and explosives, four Arab terrorists board and hijack an Israeli bus with 41 passengers heading south from Tel Aviv to Ashkelon. Toward the beginning of the episode, the hijackers release a pregnant woman, who immediately alerts authorities. The hijacking turns into a high-speed chase as the terrorists redirect the Egged bus toward the Egyptian border. With the Israeli army chasing the bus, it plows through roadblocks, and the military eventually shoots out the tires 10 miles north of the border, forcing an abrupt stop.
The hijackers hold the passengers hostage, demanding that the Israeli government release 500 Palestinian prisoners and grant them safe passage to Egypt. After negotiations, a Special Forces unit raids the bus. All passengers are freed except for one who is killed during the operation. Two hijackers are killed in the raid, and two are captured. The two detained terrorists are bound, brought to a field and executed. The execution order is believed to have been given by Avraham Shalom, the chief of the Shin Bet security service.
The official account says all four terrorists are killed in the raid, but photojournalist Alex Levac takes photographs of the two hijackers being carried away from the bus alive. A scandal follows the publication of the photos. The officers and soldiers involved in the killings are brought to trial but are pardoned before they are convicted. Shalom resigns as part of the pardon deal.
Many documentaries and television shows in Israel address the incident, including the 2012 documentary “The Gatekeepers.”
