This cannot go on!
Israel has endured multiple terror attacks and attempted attacks in the last couple of days. I write now briefly late on Saturday night, because people must know, and will follow with more.
On Friday evening, Shabbat worshippers were leaving the Ateret Avraham Synagogue in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood of Jerusalem when an Arab terrorist drove up, got out of his car, and began shooting.
He then got back into his car but police caught him and killed him. He has been identified as a resident of eastern Jerusalem.
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In the end, seven people were dead and at least five injured, one critically.
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Eli and Natali Mizrahi were married just two years. They were eating dinner with their family, when they heard shots. “Stay,” Eli’s father urged, but they went out to help the injured. And they lost their lives.
Shimon Israeli, a neighbor of Natali and Eli Mizrahi, described the last moments of their lives.
“They were like family to me. Eli was always there to help when you needed something. I saw him running outside after the shooting, and pleaded with him not to go. I told him, ‘They are shooting – don’t run.’ He ran [to help] and was mowed down.”
“I saw Natali doing CPR on someone, but the terrorist came up and shot her.”
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/366586
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Asher Natan, also shot, was only 14. A paramedic who treated Natan at the scene, described the situation: “We tried to resuscitate Asher but without success. Then his father found him, after trying to locate him for some time. He broke through the police barriers around the bodies and that was how he discovered his son, lifeless. The family is shattered.”
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Shaul Chai, 68, was a gabbai (sexton) of a nearby shul and was on his way to a study session when he was killed.
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Rafael Ben Eliyahu, yet another victim, was a resident of the area; he leaves a wife and three children.
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Another victim was Ilya Sosansky, 26. I have no further information on him as I write.
The seventh victim Irina Korolova, a Ukrainian citizen working as a caregiver.
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But this is not the end. The following morning, on Shabbat, two people, a father and son, were shot outside of the Old City. They are in serious but stable condition, having sustained shots to their upper bodies. The son is an officer in the Paratroopers Brigade, off-duty at the time.
Now please note this carefully: The shooter was a 13-year-old Arab boy from eastern Jerusalem. He hid behind parked cars waiting to open fire.
Please remember this when you read Arab protests about the horror of “children” that Israel arrests. See the weapon of this “child”:
He was shot by the paratrooper who had been wounded and someone else present.
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And still we are not done. Saturday night, a terrorist entered a restaurant at the Almog Junction in the south. He shot once; his gun then jammed, and he fled. The search is out for him.
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Also this evening, there was an attempted car ramming at Tapuach Junction in the Shomron. There were no injuries among those standing at the junction. The terrorist was shot.
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There is a great deal more to write, and I will follow through with diligence on Sunday. The question, why now? The most obvious: Last Thursday morning, nine terrorists were killed by the IDF in a shoot-out in Jenin. Intelligence had come through indicating a terror group there was planning a serious, and exceedingly imminent attack. The sense of urgency was so great that security forces moved during the day, rather than waiting for nightfall.
There were calls for revenge for this – a couple of rockets had been fired from Gaza, and there were some minor terror incidents.
I will return with additional comments.
Additionally, I note that Friday was International Holocaust Day. A coincidence?
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And then the question of how this will be handled by Israeli security personnel. What I will say here is that I expect it will be with maximum stringencies. We will follow this.
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© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
