Not Jewish and I’ve only been to Israel once, so take my anecdotal experiences with the appropriate amount of salt…
So as with any religion, there are a lot of different sects in Judaism. Some are more radical and traditional than others. The most fundamental Jewish communities in Isreal sometimes have a pretty negative outlook on outsiders and foreigners in general and stick to strict fundamental religious principles. So there are stories of them messing with tourists, like throwing rocks at their cars and spitting at them. I didn’t experience anything like that myself, but was warned about it happening in certain areas.
My theory is that the American group wandered into one of those areas and got roughed up a bit.



Idk, I could see him becoming a martyr… not because he deserves it, or because anybody thinks he should be, but because using martyrs for propaganda is definitely popular with leaders of extreme movements. Martyrs can be held up as shining examples of devotion to followers, while at the same time showing how vile their opponents are. And the best thing: they are dead. So they can stand for anything you want without objections.
Look at Horst Wessel. He was an unimportant pimp and a fascist piece of shit. Nazis are singing his song to this day in Germany, even though it’s punishable with jail time.