COVID nurse pelted with stones returning from shift on Yom Kippur

A nurse in a COVID ward at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem was attacked by stone-throwing kids on her way back from a shift on Yom Kippur.

Pregnant Jerusalemite recovers from COVID-19 at Shaare Zedek (photo credit: SHAARE ZEDEK MEDICAL CENTER)
Pregnant Jerusalemite recovers from COVID-19 at Shaare Zedek
(photo credit: SHAARE ZEDEK MEDICAL CENTER)

A nurse in a COVID ward at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem was attacked by stone-throwers on her way back from a shift on Yom Kippur, N12 reported. 

The nurse, Shaked Alkobi from the Kfar Eldad settlement in southeast Gush Etzion, was on her way back from a shift in the COVID labor ward at Shaarei Zedek on Wednesday evening at 11 pm. At the entrance to the Har Homa neighborhood, her car was attacked by a number of kids aged 12-15.

In the past, Haredi youth have thrown stones at vehicles that have driven on Shabbat or holidays, but Har Homa is not a Haredi neighborhood and the youth didn't look ultra-Orthodox.

"At 11 p.m. I finished my shift at the hospital and on the way home [my car] was smashed by stones," Alkobi said in an interview to N12.

"I initially wanted to speak to these kids, I began to slow down but I saw that they were continuing to throw stones like crazy. I was terrified and escaped the scene," she added.

"I was hysterical and didn't know what to do," she added. "My crazy frustration Grew because I could not understand - why are they doing such a thing? I am a first-responder for United Hatzalah and I have a Shaare Zedek sticker on the side of my car.

"Even if I were not a medical worker - this is a vicious and shameful act," Alkobi continued. "The kids threw large stones on me and I do not want to imagine what would have happened if one of them had hit me in the head."

"I am a mother to three kids, and their car seats were covered in glass," she said.

A NURSE draws up a COVID-19 vaccine dose at a Magen David Adom vaccination center in Jerusalem earlier this month.  (credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)
A NURSE draws up a COVID-19 vaccine dose at a Magen David Adom vaccination center in Jerusalem earlier this month. (credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)

"The entire junction was full of stones and the kids were just waiting for a car to ambush," she described.

She concluded: "I cannot calm down after the incident. Yom Kippur is a day where a person is supposed to look inwards, forgive and have mercy - and on this specific day they choose to put human life in danger?"

One window was shattered in the incident. Alkobi herself was unharmed.

The Israel Police have opened an investigation into the incident.