IDF soldier fights off, ties up two Arabs who came to steal his gun

It was two against one when the Arabs attacked but the soldier was up to the challenge. 

By World Israel News Staff

An IDF soldier from the Givati Brigade defended himself in an exceptional manner when two Arabs from the city of Taibe attacked him at a bus stop in an effort to steal his weapon, Israel’s Channel 20 reports.

The incident took place on Tuesday morning at an intersection near Sha’ar Ephraim (or “Ephraim’s Gate”) a moshav in  central Israel. While the soldier waited at the bus stop, two Arabs approached wearing motorcycle helmets and began to beat him.

“Two people with helmets and coats stopped near the station I was at. I was alert from the moment they approached, I felt there was something unusual here. From the moment one of them approached me, I knew I had to act quickly and calmly,” the soldier said.

The soldier said that he managed to “drop one of them to the floor, while the other continued to hit me and I tried to take control of both of them. They sprayed me in the face with tear gas. I continued to struggle, and I did not give up.”

“After another citizen arrived at the scene, I took advantage of the moment and took a thread I had found next to me and tied up one of the suspects. Immediately after that I took handcuffs out of my case and handcuffed the other.”

The soldier held them until the police arrived. “In those few minutes I had one goal – to keep the weapon on me and repel them with all the strength I had,” he said.

The deputy head of the pre-military academy that the soldier attended before joining the army gave him high marks.

Lt.-General (res.) Rabbi Eytan Slav said, “This soldier came to us and built a reputation as a quiet, unassuming youth, but someone clearly with great abilities and potential. He made excellent progress without ever seeking the limelight, and was diligent in using his time to learn Torah in the academy’s study hall and in absorbing valuable lessons that stood him in good stead during this week’s attack.”

One of the soldier’s former teachers, Rabbi Roi Maman, said he is a “very serious young man, an idealist with great abilities and potential. Actually, I’m a bit worried that he’ll be angry at us for drawing so much attention to him, as it was never his habit to seek attention or praise. All the same, the entire staff here is incredibly proud of him.”