Israel News for October 8, 2015
Breaking News
This morning a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem stabbed and seriously wounded a 25 year old ultra orthodox yeshiva student near the light rail on French Hill in Jerusalem. He then tried to grab the gun from a security guard nearby, but following a scuffle fled the scene. Members of the Yasam anti-terrorist police unit apprehended the terrorist. The story is still unfolding.
Female Stabber
The 18 year old Arab woman who stabbed a 36 year old Israeli man near the Lion’s Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem on Wednesday had aspirations of becoming a martyr. At least that’s what she wrote on her Facebook page hours before her attack. She wrote, “where am I going? I’m going to become a shaheed (martyr). I want to ask you one thing — not to cry for me when I become a martyr. My greatest desire is to be a martyr for Allah.”
Unfortunately for her, she failed in her mission. She also failed to become a murderer, through no fault of her own. She tried her best but she ended up stabbing a reserve paratroop officer. After being stabbed in the head and back he turned to face her, drew his weapon and shot her. She was seriously injured.
The woman was studying to be a history and geography teacher at the University of Bethlehem. We can only hope that she’ll never get the chance to become a martyr or teach children to follow in her evil ways.
For further reading: http://news.walla.co.il/item/2895431
Terror Spree
There were several separate terror attacks in Israel yesterday.
In the southern town of Kiryat Gat, an Arab man stabbed a soldier in a public bus and stole his rifle. The attacker fled into a residential building. Unfortunately for him, anti-terrorist police happened to be around and saw him. They put a quick end to his life of terror and sent him directly to “paradise”. The Palestinian press identified the terrorist as a 17 year old from the Hebron area. The Israeli soldier was lightly wounded and taken to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.
In Petach Tikva, an Arab got off a bus at the entrance to a large mall and stabbed a 25 year old Israeli man. Passersby chased the terrorist, disarmed him and subdued him until police arrived. The victim was taken to the hospital with moderate wounds. The attacker was identified as Tamer Yunis Ahmed Vareidat, 25, from Daheira, near Hebron.
In the Jerusalem neighborhood of Abu Tur, police stopped a 15 year old Arab for questioning. The teen pulled a knife and tried to stab them. The officers subdued him.
Israeli forces at the Al Zaim checkpoint near Mount Scopus in Jerusalem opened fire at an Arab driver when he tried to run them over with his vehicle. The driver was moderately wounded.
There were also stoning incidents near Gush Etzion and Bet El.
Upshot
Doesn’t look like Abbas’s call for calm has been too effective. He might have already lost any control he had to stop the violence. Is this the beginning of a new intifada?
For further reading: http://news.walla.co.il/item/2895353
Barkat Packing
Jerusalem’s mayor Nir Barkat is not afraid to get his hands dirty when it comes to security issues in the city. Back in February he tackled a knife-wielding attacker outside the municipality building.
Barkat was recently photographed carrying an assault rifle during a visit to the Arab neighborhood of Beit Hanina in east Jerusalem.
The mayor’s office remarked that the mayor is a “licensed and trained gun owner” and was carrying his weapon with him during a visit with Israeli security forces. The statement added that “many terror attacks in Jerusalem have been prevented or neutralized due to the quick actions and response of responsible bystanders.”
So it seems that Vladimir Putin isn’t the only leader ready to get physical. Let this be a warning to the terrorists: beware of Barkat.
PM Bans Ministers
There’s a reason why there haven’t been any recent visits by government ministers to the Temple Mount. That’s because prior to leaving on his trip the New York to address the UN, the PM issued an order prohibiting ministers and Knesset members from visiting the site. The order doesn’t apply to Arab Knesset members.
New PM Diggs
Plans have been submitted to the Jerusalem municipal planning committee for the construction of a new residence and office for the Prime Minister in the Givat Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem. The area already houses other government buildings including the Knesset and the Foreign Ministry as well as many national museums and one of the campuses of Hebrew University.
The two buildings will be built on an empty 7.4 acre plot and will cost around 650 million shekels ($169 million).
It’s about time they moved the PM from his current location in the crowded Rehavia neighborhood, where the residents will most likely be thankful for the traffic relief, demonstrations and official activity. On the other hand, the security in the neighborhood was pretty darn good. But it must have been a logistics nightmare for the PM’s security detail.
Best of luck on the project!
For further reading: http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.679266
Prayers Answered
On the holiday of Shmini Atzeret, which was just celebrated on Monday, Jews say a special series of prayers for rain. Well, what do you know? It looks like our prayers were especially effective this year. There has been a significant amount of rainfall throughout Israel in the last few days, which is very unusual. The rain is expected to continue until the weekend. The usual pattern is for the rains to come in the second half of the month, so if that holds true, this could be a truly blessed year for Israel — at least in the rain department.
For further reading: http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/729/615.html
