Drive-by shooting victim: Living in Samaria is a game of Russian roulette

Police have erected checkpoints in order to identify the perpetrator of the attack.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF, YAAKOV LAPPIN
Updated: AUGUST 31, 2015 00:50
Shots fired on a car in the West Bank (photo credit: Courtesy)
Shots fired on a car in the West Bank
(photo credit: Courtesy)
A Palestinian terrorist shot Ronen Edri in the arm as he drove in the West Bank on his way to work Sunday morning.
“I feel like I’m in a game of Russian roulette,” said Edri, a father of four who works as an information systems consultant and is a volunteer ambulance driver.
As he sat in Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba with a bandage on his arm, Edri described how when he left his home in the Shavei Shomron settlement it felt like a normal day.
Edri recounted that, as he headed in the direction of the Kedumim settlement, he noted a car moving slowly that looked slightly suspicious, but he was not able to pass it.
He turned west at the Jit Junction and drove a bit before the suspicious car pulled alongside his and a Palestinian in the vehicle shot at Edri through the window, spraying bullets at the side of his car and shattering the driver’s window.
“I was injured in my arm.
Shards fell on my back. I pressed on the gas pedal and sped out of there,” he said.
“I thank God for the miracle that happened,” Edri said.
“This could have cost me my life.”
Others on the road, particularly with the start of school, also were in danger, he added.
Edri said he was grateful to the police, the army, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Magen David Adom and everyone who worked quickly to help him, including Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council. But he had harsh words for the government’s failure to ensure the safety of the residents of Samaria, where the incident occurred, while at the same time it works to ease life for the Palestinians.
“You are driving down the road and all of a sudden they shoot at you. I am a citizen of Israel and I want to feel safe in my country,” Edri said.
“I am grateful to God who saved me, and I am very angry that we are here in Samaria and we are not safe,” he added.
An army spokeswoman said security forces launched sweeps of the area in search of the terrorists.
Dagan also lashed out at the government.
“There needs to be a change in policy. It cannot be that the government binds the hands of the IDF and doesn’t allow it to defend its citizens – this is exactly what happened here. In the exact spot where the shooting occurred, there used to be a checkpoint that has been removed so as not to disrupt the lives of the Arabs. Had it been there today, this attack could have been prevented.”
Kedumim Council head Hananel Durani said the driveby- shooting was part of a wave of violence by Palestinians against Israelis and soldiers.
He called on the government to better enable the IDF to prevent such attacks and strengthen its hold on Judea and Samaria by authorizing more building in the settlements.