Terror knife attacks are a threat too. Illustrative photo of commando knives apprehended amid shipment of plumbing materials destined for Gaza. Photo courtesy of Israel Ministry of Defense Crossing Authority
Even Israeli police stations aren’t safe from terrorism, as a knife-wielding assailant chose just such a location on Wednesday night to stab four Israeli police officers in the Armon Hanatziv station in Jerusalem. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said on Twitter that the four officers were lightly injured and that the terrorist had been arrested. A separate tweet showed a group of counterterrorism police units on the scene.
While reports of a ceasefire between Israel and terrorists in Gaza indicate things are calming down in the south of Israel, Wednesday’s knife attack served as a stark reminder that terrorist efforts to wound and kill Israelis are a threat always—and in any place.
That has been a difficult reality for the Israeli south in particular recently, and their suffering under the massive rocket barrage earlier this week was heard loud and clear on Tuesday at the United Nations. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon posted a video to Twitter showing him playing the rocket-warning siren. “At the #UN, I explained that every time Hamas fired one of its 460 rockets, families have 15 seconds to find their loved ones & run to a bomb shelter. When Hamas fires a rocket, families hear this,” tweeted Danon.
On Wednesday, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin acknowledged the Israeli southerners’ plight and strength. “In recent weeks and months I have met and heard Israeli citizens, residents of the south and the area around Gaza,” said Rivlin in comments released by his office, “and I do not give them strength; these people are the strongest there are.”
Rivlin went on to highlight the young people who have “grown up with 15 seconds’ warning” to find shelter when rocket sirens sound. Referring to the “pioneers” of the southern region, Rivlin said, “They are the spirit, and with them we will be victorious.”
Rivlin, who was speaking at the state memorial ceremony honoring Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, also looked ahead to better days and said that Israel’s leaders must be ready for them too.
“When we silence the cannon we will have to give these wonderful people, these wonderful communities, blue skies of hope. In the footsteps of Ben-Gurion, we must remember that fighting for the south, for the Negev [region]—even the northern Negev—is not just fighting against terrorism,” said Rivlin.
“The battle for the Negev is also a battle for culture, for creativity, for art, for economy, for education, settlement and employment. That is the spirit of the people.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, November 14, 2018)