On 24 May 1992, at around 7:30 am, 18-year-old Palestinian Fuad Muhammad Abdulhadi Amrin stabbed to death 15-year-old Israeli Helena Rapp at the corner of Ben-Gurion and Jabotinsky streets in Bat Yam while she was on her way to her school bus stop.

[6] After the incident, Ze'ev Rapp, Helena's father, devoted his life to commemorating his daughter and to public activities as the chairman of the Israeli Victims of Terror Attacks Organization.

The Minister of Police Roni Milo and the leader of the right-wing nationalist Moledet party Rehavam Ze'evi were present at Helena Rapp's funeral.

Labor Party politician Shimon Peres arrived in Bat-Yam and despite some concerns was welcomed by local residents.

Videos of the rioting that took place in Bat Yam were featured in Labor Party electoral ads which blamed the deteriorating security situation on the Likud government.