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An Israeli man sustained moderate injuries Wednesday night in a Palestinian stabbing attack in the West Bank, military and medical officials announced.
According to local media, the victim was stabbed in the head at the entrance of his house in Havat Yehuda, an unauthorized outpost in the South Hebron Hills. Reports identified the wounded Israeli as 25-year-old Elyashiv Nahum, the owner of a wildcat farm in the area.
The Magen David Adom emergency service announced that medics took Nahum to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, where he was being treated in the trauma ward. The attacker, named by the Palestinian Authority as Sanad Muhammad Othman Samamreh from ad-Dhahiriya, was reportedly killed on the scene.
According to Nahum’s wife, the stabber came to the family’s home asking for water before pulling out a knife and attacking. She told reporters that another Israeli man who arrived to repair an electrical problem at the ranch shot Samamreh.
The knife from the stabbing attack in Yehuda farm pic.twitter.com/H8k3c1a4JY
— Adin – עדין (@AdinHaykin1) January 11, 2023
Local Palestinians had repeatedly threatened the family, Israeli media said. In recent video footage posted on social media, the mayor of ad-Dhahiriya can be heard telling Nahum, “A day will come when we will slaughter you.”
The attack came amid heightened tensions in Judea and Samaria. Earlier on Wednesday, Palestinian terrorists fired dozens of bullets at a military base and nearby checkpoint in the northern West Bank. According to a Border Police spokesman, no officers or soldiers were hurt in the incident.
Also on Wednesday, an Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades operative was shot dead during clashes with IDF troops in Nablus’ Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank.
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In a meeting with Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi this week, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen vowed to increase Jerusalem’s efforts to support the Ukrainian people.
Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman described to Cohen the position of the Jewish community in the face of Russia’s invasion, urging that Israel send more aid and “everything that… can contribute to ease the suffering of the citizens.”
“The State of Israel is obligated to reach out to every Jew and Jewry, and in particular to the Jews of Ukraine in their difficult time,” Cohen responded, adding: “I instructed the officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to act to increase the humanitarian aid we provide to Ukraine, in order to improve their situation as much as possible.”
Ahead of Thursday call w @DmytroKuleba, FM @elicoh1 meets with leading Ukr Rabbi Moshe Azman. He pledges to increase Israel’s aid to Ukr. This is Cohen’s 1st meeting w Ukrainian as FM. pic.twitter.com/4DEqWD8Uuy
— Lazar Berman (@Lazar_Berman) January 11, 2023
“I have found a true friend of the Jewish community in Ukraine in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Chief Rabbi Azman stated after the conversation. “I thank Minister Eli Cohen for the kind words and important actions for the benefit of the Jews of Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s Jewish population is thought to be around 400,000, with substantial communities in the capital Kyiv, as well as Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Odesa.
Israel’s approach to the Ukraine war has been described as a “delicate balancing act.” This is in part due to Jerusalem’s deconfliction mechanism with Moscow, allowing the IDF to strike Iranian targets in Syria, where the Russian Armed Forces have a significant presence.
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Brazil’s Ambassador to Israel was recalled to Brasília this week in what analysts say might indicate a shift in the Latin American country’s policies vis-a-vis the Jewish state.
Ambassador General Gerson Menandro Garcia de Freitas was appointed by Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s previous president, in early 2021. Bolsonaro assigned General Menandro to the post in an attempt to expand military ties with Jerusalem.
During Bolsonaro’s term, Brazil supported Israel in international institutions, contrary to the traditional position of Brasília’s foreign ministry.
However, upon the establishment of the new left-wing government under President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, newly minted Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira stated that Brazil would “cooperate with Arab countries, primarily Palestine [sic].” In addition, Brazil also withdrew its ambassador from Washington.
Luiz Inácio da Silva once donned a Palestinian keffiyeh and laid a wreath at the tomb of arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat in Ramallah. Following his election victory in October, Iran and Hamas extended their congratulations to Lula.
This election result tonight in #Brazil along with the leftist trend in South America has certainly gotten the attention of #Iran's regime. Lula and Khamenei go way back. Bolsonaro never traveled to Tehran. From 2010: https://t.co/0oJoM3cQlO pic.twitter.com/4rOKxZvX5N
— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) October 30, 2022
In related news, Azerbaijan on Wednesday appointed its first-ever ambassador to Israel. President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree appointing Mukhtar Mammadov, who served in the ministry of education and held other diplomatic positions, as Baku’s first envoy.
Israel has had a mission in Baku since the early 1990s and has been a significant military backer of the Muslim-majority country, which shares a border with Iran. Amid escalating tensions with the Islamic Republic, the Azeri parliament last year enacted a law paving the way for the country to open its first embassy in Israel.
Azerbaijan’s embassy will reportedly be located in Tel Aviv, where many foreign delegations are based.
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The year 2022 saw a surge in Jews visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, an advocacy organization dedicated to strengthening Israel’s presence at Judaism’s holiest site said. According to the Beyadenu NGO, 51,483 Jews visited the Mount last year, up from 34,651 in 2021 and 20,684 in 2020.
Throughout 2022, 30 pre-military academies and three schools toured the Temple Mount. In the last quarter of 2022, 61 grooms, 20 brides, and 19 Bar and Bat Mitzvahs visited the site.
Meanwhile, fifty-one Jewish visitors to the site were arrested in the past 12 months, while 90 Jewish worshipers were detained. 52 Temple Mount pilgrims were banned by police order.
Since Israel gained control over eastern Jerusalem in a defensive war in 1967, an informal set of rules known as the “status quo” has governed the state of affairs at the holy site. Under this status quo agreement, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has pledged to uphold, Jews and other non-Muslims can visit the Temple Mount but not pray there.
However, courts have at times questioned the ban’s legality (see here and here). The 1967 Preservation of the Holy Places Law ensures freedom of access and protection to all holy sites under Israeli jurisdiction, including those in the eastern part of its capital.
Recommended Reading
- Israeli Government Unveils New Measures to Combat Rising Cost of Living (Jewish News Syndicate)
- Why a Jew’s Visit to the Holiest Jewish Site Provokes Outrage (Clifford D. May, Washington Times)
- Jewish Winners at the 2023 Golden Globes (Brian Fishbach, Jewish Journal)
- Israeli Immigration Records Dating Back to 1919 Now Accessible Online (Asaf Elia-Shalev, Times of Israel)
- Oh Thank Heaven! 7-Eleven Lands in Israel (Tzvi Joffre, Jerusalem Post)
