The Sad Story Of Livnat Green Z’l, Who Dressed Up As A Muslim And Feigned Terror Attack To Commit Suicide

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A female former IDF soldier who dressed up as an Arab woman and brandished a weapon near a checkpoint in the southern Hevron area was shot and killed by security guards Tuesday evening.

The 26-year-old woman, named Livnat Green, had appeared a few years ago in Israeli media after she complained upon completing her army service in Border Police that she had “been a lone soldier and was now a lone civilian”. Green set up a tent near the Welfare Ministry, claiming that she had been evicted from the place she had been living in after her release from the army.

Interviewed by journalists, Green said that “I was in boarding schools until 18. I was thrown out of the place I lived in until now because I caught coronavirus.”

At this point Green’s story received media attention and MK Alex Kushnir took her to his Knesset office to find her a place to stay. Within a short time, then Defense Minister Naftali Bennett invited her to stay in his home. Green said that the minister woke her up and gave her omelets. She said that “it was important to him that I not be in the streets as it was a cold and rainy period. In the beginning I was embarrassed but later they made me feel there was nothing to be ashamed about.” Later she tried to find a place to live in Beersheva, but didn’t succeed in settling down.

Green, who was born in Beersheva as Sapir Cohen and later changed her name, had a history of mental issues and had in the past been committed to a psychiatric institution a few times and had attempted suicide on a number of occasions. After her army service, she claimed that she was suffering post-trauma as a result of her service and found it hard to keep a job. She also said that she suffered from panic attacks, which forced her to hurt herself, since “If you don’t hurt yourself you can’t calm down. The physical pain allows you to forget the mental pain.”

Last year Green’s friend Tikva Saban committed suicide. Saban called a hotline requesting assistance. Green was in the apartment when her friend sent her a text message that “I injected myself”. Running to her friend, Green found her semi-conscious and called emergency services. “Tivka died in my arms,” Green later said. “She didn’t want to die but she didn’t want to continue living like this. She wanted people to see that she was suffering and help her.”

Tikva Saban z’l

On Tuesday, about half an hour before the feigned terror attack at Metzudat Yehuda, a friend of Livnat tipped off police that she might be dressing up as a terrorist in order to commit suicide. Green posted a picture of herself with an emoji of a woman wearing Arab dress and wrote “how relaxing, quite surprising.”

Livnat’s Whatsapp to friend- an hour before her feigned attack

In her final whatsapp texting with her boyfriend, Livnat raised the possibility that a person would dress up as a Muslim and go to a checkpoint to commit suicide. She asked what would happen if the person was shot in the legs and how long they would be jailed for. When her friend asked if she was referring to herself, she responded: Maybe, we’ll never know.” In her final text she wrote that “if you hear about someone in the news, tell them I want a Jewish burial.”

Police did not notify all checkpoints at the time but rather attempted to locate her based on her cellphone. However they only succeeded in finding the phone after she came to the checkpoint and was shot.