One year after the attack: Aviad Freija is accused of killing the late Yuval Kastelman

November 28, 2024   

The Military Prosecution Service filed an indictment today (Thursday) against Sergeant (res.) Aviad Freija, who shot and killed the late Yuval Kastelman at the scene of a murderous attack at the Givat Shaul intersection at the entrance to Jerusalem a year ago. The indictment was filed after a hearing, for manslaughter in an offense involving murder under circumstances of diminished responsibility. If convicted, Freija is expected to receive a sentence of between 15 and 20 years. The investigation was conducted by the investigating military police. According to the indictment, on November 30 - during a murderous shooting attack at the entrance to Jerusalem - Kastelman, an attorney at the Civil Service Commission who was on his way to work, arrived at the scene of the attack and acted to neutralize the terrorists. Freija was present at the scene and also acted to neutralize the terrorists. Immediately after the terrorists were neutralized, Freija shot Yuval, despite another soldier standing nearby calling for a cease-fire. Freija continued to shoot at the center of Yuval's body, despite him raising his hands, taking off his coat, not holding a weapon, and posing no danger. The shooting, according to the indictment, caused Yuval's death. Attorney Shlomi Tzifuri and Attorney Ran Cohen Rochberger, Freija's lawyers, responded after the Military Prosecution's decision: "We regret that the military prosecution did not withstand media pressure and now seeks to correct the tragedy of Yuval's tragic death through another injustice against our client." They added: "The soldier came across the scene of an attack while on his way back to the war in Gaza. As will be proven at trial, the soldier acted in complete good faith and with a sincere belief that he was stopping the massacre. The investigation material clearly shows that eight additional eyewitnesses who were at the scene also mistakenly identified the deceased as the third terrorist who participated in the attack." The family of Yuval Kastelman expressed satisfaction with the indictment. Yuval's uncle, Ran Kastelman, said: "Their demand was for a serious indictment and this is also the result. The family will continue to accompany the process." Murdered in the attack were Rabbi Elimelech Wasserman, 73, a judge of the rabbinical court in Ashdod, Hanna Ifergan, 67, principal of the Beit Yaakov school in Beit Shemesh, and Livia Diekman, 24, from the Har Nof neighborhood.