Israel News for 3-23-2022
News Update
Terror in Beersheva: Yesterday in Beersheva, a terrorist rammed his car into a cyclist, killing him. The terrorist then exited his vehicle and stabbed to death another 3 people and wounded several others. The terrorist then ran to to a second and then third location nearby and stabbed people there, before he was shot by bus driver Arthur Haimov, who was in the area. The entire attack lasted 8 minutes.
The terrorist was a 35 year old Bedouin from the Negev city of Hura and an Israeli citizen. He had recently been released from a six year prison term and was known to have been an Islamic State sympathizer. According to court filings, Al-Kian was a school teacher in Hura and often preached in his local mosque. He set up a terror squad that had met covertly, where he took the role of spiritual teacher, preaching an extreme Islam practiced by IS. He has also participated in other groups espousing IS ideology in weekly meetings, near his mosque. The terrorists family/clan issued a statement saying, “We harshly condemn this terrorist act in Beersheba today that took the lives of innocent civilians. This criminal action is a lone act, that represents only he who performed it. We are a family that believes in co-existence and obeying the law.”
Hura mayor Habis Atawnah told The Times of Israel that schools and nurseries in the small town would devote hours of discussions to the violent attack by one of their residents. “We will tell them that this is not our way. We want to educate our children and young people to the values of mutual respect and the sanctity of life.”
The Arab parties in the Knesset strongly condemned the terror attack.
Hamas praised the attack. The Palestinian Authority called the terrorist a martyr.
The victims of the attack were:
Rabbi Moshe Kravitzky, 50, a member of the Chabad movement, father of 4 children aged 10-22, who he ran a soup kitchen for predominately elderly residents in need. He had served as a Chabad emissary in Moldova before returning to Be’er Sheva.
Doris Yachbas, 49, wife and mother of three, from a nearby farming community. Her nephew was one of the paramedics who was first at the scene and recognized her while trying to save her life.
Laura Yitzhak, 43, wife and mother to three daughters aged 6, 12 and 14. Her brother was a local police officer who arrived at the scene right after the attack. In a video of the attack, Laura is seen trying to fight off the terrorist as he stabbed her multiple times.
Menachem Menuhin Yehezkel, 67, survived by a sister and three brothers.
May the Almighty avenge their blood.
PM Naftali Bennett, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Sisi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan met yesterday in Egypt in what appears to be an attempt to demonstrate a united front against the revival of the Iran nuclear deal. The leaders reportedly discussed he stability of energy markets, food security and other regional and international issues.
