Murder of Helena Rapp

On 24 May 1992, at approximately 7:30 am, 15-year-old Israeli Helena Rapp was stabbed to death at the corner of Ben-Gurion and Jabotinsky streets in Bat Yam, Israel, while walking to her school bus stop. The attacker was 18-year-old Palestinian Fuad Muhammad Abdulhadi Amrin. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The killing was one of the more prominent in a series of stabbing attacks that took place in Israel during the early 1990s, and it contributed to a broader sense among many Israelis that their personal security was deteriorating.

In the aftermath of the attack, thousands of Bat Yam residents rioted in the streets for five days with little significant police interference. The rioting caused heavy damage to property, and rioters occasionally attacked bystanders who appeared to be Arab. Baruch Marzel was among the organizers of the riots and was later sentenced to eight months' probation for his role. Helena Rapp's father, Ze'ev Rapp, encouraged the riots during this period, but after five days he responded to a police request and helped disperse the rioters, after which the unrest subsided. The Or Commission later examined the police response, and then–Chief of Police Assaf Hefetz criticized how authorities handled the rioting, stating that it should have been dispersed much earlier.

The attack occurred during the run-up to the 1992 Israeli legislative elections, and numerous politicians visited Bat Yam or spoke publicly about the killing. Minister of Police Roni Milo and Moledet party leader Rehavam Ze'evi attended Helena Rapp's funeral. Labor Party politician Shimon Peres also visited Bat Yam and, despite some concerns, was welcomed by local residents. Much of the Israeli public at the time attributed the decline in personal security to the policies of the Shamir government, and footage of the Bat Yam riots was subsequently used in Labor Party campaign advertisements that blamed the Likud government for the deteriorating security situation.

Following the murder, Ze'ev Rapp devoted himself to commemorating his daughter and to public advocacy, serving as chairman of the Israeli Victims of Terror Attacks Organization.

Fuad Muhammad Abdulhadi Amrin was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing. On 18 October 2011, he was released to Gaza as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.