At Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem, three wounded were received. Two were in serious condition in the trauma room, while one was lightly wounded.
According to eyewitnesses, the students initially thought that the gunfire was fireworks - part of a party underway to celebrate the beginning of Adar II.
The Mercaz Harav Yeshiva is considered the leading national-religious yeshiva in Israel, with hundreds of elite students. Among its thousands of graduates are leading public figures including senior rabbis and IDF officers. It was founded in 1924 by mandatory Palestine's first chief rabbi, Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Hacohen Kook. Its longtime head, Rabbi Avraham Shapira, died in September 2007.
Rabbi David Stav, one of many prominent graduates of the yeshiva, which has produced the bulk of the spiritual leadership of religious Zionism in Israel, said that the attack had been directed at the heart of religious Zionism.
"Mercaz Harav is the flagship of the entire religious Zionist movement," said Stav. "The terrorist targeted a place that symbolizes love for the land of Israel, love for the people of Israel and love for the Torah. No Jewish soul can remain indifferent to the horrible thought that a despicable terrorist attacked a group of young men who were busy studying the holy Torah."
Stav, who has been involved in interfaith dialogue with Israeli Muslim spiritual leaders via an organization called Kedem, said that Thursday night's attack underscores the cruelty and evil of Islamic-inspired terrorism. "Followers of Islam claim they respect the people of the book. But this horrific act proves the emptiness of their claims."
A Zaka man in the Merkaz Harav library works next to an automatic rifle and spent ammunition that was used by the Palestinian terrorist in the terror attack.
Photo: AP
Rabbi David Simhon, the educational director of the yeshiva, said "the people of Israel will not be broken" by attacks such as this.
Matthew Wagner, Judy Siegel and Herb Keinon contributed to this report.
