The Shin Bet officer who investigated the events of January 2017 during attempts to demolish the unrecognized Negev Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran concluded that police had failed in their handling of that operation and that the death of a policeman at the scene stemmed from a “serious mistake” by officers. The officer ruled out the likelihood that Yakub Abu al-Kiyan, who was shot to death by police during the incident, had intentionally killed a police officer, Erez Levy, in a car-ramming terror attack. The officer based his report on evidence gathered in the aftermath of the incident and testimony from witnesses at the scene, which he presented to the Justice Ministry unit that investigates police misconduct.The classified document, which is likely to generate a storm of controversy in the coming days, “completely ruled out” the possibility of a premeditated terror attack, and listed the option that Abu Al-Kiyan committed a spontaneous terror attack as “low possibility.” In the early hours of January 18, 2017, police arrived at Umm al-Hiran to assist in implementing a court order to evacuate and demolish illegal housing. Kiyan, a teacher, who lived at Umm al-Hiran, had just left his house and was driving 10 kilometers per hour. The police called on him to stop but Kiyan kept on driving at the same speed, even after one police officer struck his car with his rifle butt and then fired in the air and at the car’s tires. At this point, Kiyan was shot, causing the car to accelerate, run over and kill Levy. The document reportedly supported the evidence indicating that one of the police officers had been negligent when he shot directly at Abu Al-Kiyan instead of first using less lethal measures to arrest him. The Shin Bet coordinator was said to conclude that the death of Abu Al-Kiyan and Levi was caused by the officers’ “serious operational failure.”