Jewish man stabbed in neck near J’lem’s Damascus Gate

Clear to us it was terrorist attack, says police spokesman; Victim in moderate-but-stable condition after surgery.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
Damascus Gate 311 (photo credit: Israel Antiquities Authority)
Damascus Gate 311
(photo credit: Israel Antiquities Authority)
A Jewish man remains in moderate- but-stable condition after being stabbed in the back of his neck near the capital’s Damascus Gate shortly before Shabbat concluded, in what police are deeming a terrorist attack.
According to National Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, the assailant fled the scene after stabbing the victim from behind without provocation. “It is clear to us that it was a terrorist attack and not a criminal incident,” he said shortly after the assault.
Rosenfeld said Magen David Adom and police units arrived at the scene within minutes to rush the man to Shaare Zedek Medical Center and search the area for the assailant. “The victim was taken to the hospital in moderate condition and we’ve opened up a search near the Muslim Quarter and main street near Damascus Gate,” he said.
A hospital representative said Saturday at 7 p.m. that the victim had finished undergoing surgery five minutes earlier and was in moderate but stable condition as he convalesced in the Intensive Care Unit.
The assault comes amid a pronounced uptick in terrorist activity over the past three weeks.