Haredi man stabbed in e. J'lem, police nab 2 Arabs

Victim attacked at gas station in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, in moderate condition; police investigating if attack nationalistic.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN, JPOST.COM STAFF
MDA 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
MDA 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
A haredi (ultra-Orthodox) man was stabbed in the chest at a gas station in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem on Thursday. He was taken to hospital in moderate condition.
Police arrested two Arab suspects after carrying out large-scale searches of the area, Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. The suspects were being questioned Thursday night, he said.
Police were investigating whether the motive behind the attack was nationalistic.
Last month, 19-year-old soldier Yehudit Aharon was stabbed several times in the upper body while traveling to her base via the Jerusalem light rail. Muhammad Shuman from the Beit Hanina neighborhood of east Jerusalem was arrested for allegedly carrying out the attack and was indicted for attempted murder last week.
According to the indictment, for three years before the attack, Shuman had watched Arab TV news reports about the Palestinians, including on Hamas’s Al-Aksa television channel and on CNN, and felt angry about the current situation and the IDF’s treatment of Palestinians at security checkpoints.
He decided to “do something” about his anger regarding the Palestinians by stabbing and killing the soldier, the indictment continues.
The Jerusalem District Court ruled to remand Shuman to custody for the duration of legal proceedings against him.
Joanna Paraszczuk contributed to this report.