Stabbing attempt on Mount of Olives thwarted

Arab man arrested after attacking an inspector of the Nature and National Parks Authority.

By ABE SELIG
knife 224.88 (photo credit: IDF [file])
knife 224.88
(photo credit: IDF [file])
As Nature and National Parks Protection Authority ranger Pini Birenbaum was making his rounds near the Mount of Olives on Sunday morning, it was his alertness and quick thinking, he said, that saved his life. Birenbaum, who patrols various Nature and Parks Authority sites throughout Jerusalem as part of his job, was making his way through the Jerusalem Trail in the Yad Avshalom neighborhood on Sunday, when a young man approached him and attempted to stab him with a knife. "I saw him coming towards me and at first I didn't think anything of it," Birenbaum told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday afternoon. "But as he got closer, I could see that he was hiding something in his right hand - it looked to me like some kind of a tool or even a knife." Birenbaum's suspicions were confirmed moments later, when the man, a 20-year-old Arab whose identity had not been released by press time, lunged at him with a large blade. Birenbaum was able to dodge the initial strike and pull out his service weapon - a handgun - subduing his attacker until police and border patrol officers arrived on the scene. The close call, however, was not lost on the ranger. "He walked right up to me and tried to stab me in the abdomen," Birenbaum said. "It all happened so fast. If I hadn't been paying attention, or if I had acted more slowly, God forbid, you might not be interviewing me right now." Birenbaum explained that he had held the attacker at gunpoint for about five minutes before police arrived and arrested the man. "He was sitting down, the knife was in front of him, and I held him like that until the police got there," Birenbaum said. "I acted according to my training and was doing my job, which is to secure and safeguard the historic sites around Jerusalem." When asked if he would return to work the next day, Birenbaum told the Post, "I'm back at work right now." A Jerusalem police spokesman commended Birenbaum for his actions, telling the Post, "We're happy with the way the ranger behaved. He did so in a professional manner, which resulted in the prevention of yet another attack in the capital." Birenbaum said that he, too, realized his encounter on Sunday was part of a growing trend of such attacks in Jerusalem. Last Thursday, a Palestinian from the West Bank village of Tekoa stabbed a policeman who had stopped to check his ID in the capital's Gilo neighborhood. After being shot and wounded by the officer, the man managed to break free and stab a passer-by, 86-year-old Avraham Ozeri, who later died from his wounds in the hospital. The Palestinian was captured and taken into custody. "I see what's going on, and I want to tell Israelis and tourists from all over the world not to be afraid," Birenbaum said. "You are all invited to come to Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, and experience an important part of our history here. We have a first-rate police force that is watching out for us, and good, everyday people who make this a safer place. The point is to not be afraid, and to keep enjoying Jerusalem."