JERUSALEM—At least three Israelis were killed and more than 20 injured by midday on Tuesday in a series of shootings and stabbing attacks around Israelthat marked a deadly escalation in two weeks of terrorist violence.
In the center of the city, a driver rammed his car into a bus stop and then began stabbing people on Jerusalem’s Malchei Israel Street, killing one person.
The victim was identified as 60-year-old Rabbi Yeshayahu Krishevsky. His funeral began at 2 p.m. at the Pinsk Karlin Synagogue in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood of Jerusalem. He is survived by a son, Schneur Zalman Krishevsky of Bnei Brak. The driver was identified as an employee of the Bezeq electricity company who lived in eastern Jerusalem. He was shot and captured by police.
Magen David Adom ambulance service said that five Israelis were rushed to the hospital with moderate injuries in the attack.
Meanwhile, two people were killed and more than 15 were injured when two terrorists opened fire and stabbed passengers on a bus in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv. One of the attackers was shot and killed, and the second was captured, according to Israeli Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
Following the attacks, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat called on the Israeli government to “immediately implement drastic measures to ensure the security and safety of Jerusalem residents throughout the city.”
In the central town of Ra’anana, six Israelis were injured in a stabbing attack in the center of town. All of the victims were moderately or lightly injured and taken to the hospital, according to Magen David Adom. The attacker was hospitalized in serious condition after being struck by a car after attempting to flee the scene. Less than two hours earlier, a terrorist stabbed an Israeli at a bus station in Ra’anana before being wrestled to the ground by bystanders. Police said both the attacker and victim were wounded.
Tuesday’s attacks represented an ongoing escalation of more than 30 stabbings and other terrorist attacks in Israel since the beginning of October. They followed four stabbing attacks in Jerusalem the day before, including one in which a 13-year-old boy riding his bicycle home from school was critically wounded by two Arab cousins, ages 13 and 15.
The site where a terrorist rammed his car into pedestrians on Malchei Yisrael Street in Jerusalem. (Photo: Hadas Parush/FLASH90)
Continued Calls for Mitzvahs, Torah Study and Prayer
In Israel, the Chabad-Lubavitch Youth Organization encouraged Jews the world over to join in the effort of encouraging others to don tefillin for the sake of the safety of the Jewish people.
There were also calls by rabbinic leaders around the world for increases in Torah study, prayer and other mitzvahs, in addition to donning tefillin. For suggestions of what Jewish people around the world can do to help their brethren in Israel,
The tefillin campaign in particular comes in light of instructions given by theRebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, who had issued a similar call during other dangerous times in Israel. Before the outbreak of the June 1967 war, for example, the Rebbe prompted an active campaign for Jewish males over the age of 13 to perform the mitzvah of tefillin.
Wrapping tefillin is part of the Rebbe’s 10 mitzvah campaigns introduced between the years of 1967 and 1976, which formed the platform upon which the Rebbe’s far-reaching program to revitalize Jewish life and observance throughout the world was built.
The laying of tefillin instills fear in the enemy, explain the sages of the Talmud, quoting: “Then all the peoples of the earth will see that the name of the Lord is called upon you, and they will fear you.” (Deuteronomy 28:10).
The site of a terror attack in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of Jerusalem. Two people were killed and more than 15 wounded, six of them seriously, when two terrorists armed with guns and knives boarded a bus, and then began shooting and stabbing. (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)
Psalms and Other Assistance for the Wounded
The Chabad Terror Victims Project (ctvp.org), Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries and volunteers are continuing their work of encouraging and assisting the wounded in the recent attacks in Israel. They are lifting their morale and trying to cheer them up with gifts and encouragement, in addition to providing emergency financial aid for those who need it.
The public is asked to continue their prayers for the wounded.
Here is a list as of Monday afternoon. Names will be added as they become available.
Odel bat Miryam
Natan ben Odel
Moshe ben Orli
Meir Yitzchak ben Sarah Imeinu
Aharon Moshe Chaim ben Chaya Chana
Dvir ben Shoshana
Avraham ben Rut
Ron Shai bat Sigalit
Sahar bat Shoshana
Adi ben Rut
Niv ben Yardana
Moshe ben Daisy
Meor Ephraim ben Fortuna Daniella
Moshe ben Edgach
Liat bat Yael
Orel bat Limor
Yosef Chaim ben Zahava
Chabad Terror Victims Project released this list of the wounded in need of prayer.