'The things that are more complex'

By ARYEH DEAN COHEN
On any given day, the occasionally mundane routine of a Tourist Police officer can change in a moment. Just ask Eldad Ben-Nun, deputy commander of the unit, who on March 5 found himself face to face with a terrorist, who was ramming a bulldozer into another police car. Ben-Nun tells the story matter-of-factly, like he runs off the list of places his Tourism Police patrol car travels on his daily routine. But this day was anything but routine. While driving to pick up a Tourism Police volunteer that morning, it changed dramatically. "It was three months ago, at the Malha intersection," he says calmly, as if describing a traffic accident he witnessed. "I was there with a volunteer, because I was on my way back from a meeting at the Tourism Ministry, and he had to be picked up for his tour of duty. "We were near the Ramat Sharett Bridge and when we got near the Malha interchange, we slowed down and saw the bulldozer driver pushing over the police car with the bulldozer. So we stopped and ran to the bulldozer, and it was clear that it was a terror attack. And we dealt with it. We took up shooting positions and opened fire until he fell. We were the ones who shot and killed the terrorist." The life of a Tourist Police officer, says Ben-Nun modestly, includes "the easier things and the things that are more complex. When they come up, we deal with them, just like any other policeman."