MIRACLE: Israeli stabbing victim ‘fought for his life’ as everyone else fled

The victim, who immigrated from Manchester, England some 15 years ago, was dismayed that no one on the bus had intervened while he was struggling for his life.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

The victim of a brutal terror stabbing on a Jerusalem bus fought for his life in an extended physical struggle with the perpetrator, according to a neighbor who visited the victim in the hospital.

On Tuesday, a Palestinian man in his 40s stabbed an Israeli man on a bus near Ramot Junction in Jerusalem, in an unprovoked attack.

“He was sitting on the bus, headphones in, listening to a Torah lesson,” Aharon Boimel, a neighbor of the victim who visited him in the hospital, told 103FM. “Suddenly, he felt a stab in the back.”

“He was fighting for his life. He said to himself, ‘I am going to kill this terrorist. He is not going to kill me.’ He was in fear for his life and he knew that if he did not fight until the last drop of blood, he would not survive.”

According to the neighbor, beyond the stab wounds, the man sustained numerous fractures. The two men struggled for some five minutes, and the victim’s arm was broken during the fight.

“In the end, he won – he punched the terrorist in the face so hard that he became startled and ran away.”

According to the 103FM interview, the wounded man told Boimel that he was dismayed that no one on the bus had intervened while he was struggling for his life.

The bus driver fled the bus, along with the passengers, rather than attempting to come to the victim’s aid, an experience which his neighbor said had left him deeply shaken.

It was a “miracle” that the victim had the strength to get off the bus and seek help, Boimel said.

The terrorist, a Palestinian who held an Israeli work permit, attempted to flee the scene and was shot on the street by Meshi Ben Ami, who works as a photographer for the Ynet news outlet.

“I got out of the car, loaded my gun and realized it was a terror attack. The stabber came near me, I did not hesitate and fired one bullet at him. I heard him praying in Arabic,” Ben Ami told Kan Radio.

The victim, who immigrated from Manchester, England some 15 years ago, is in stable condition and will likely be released from the hospital in the coming days.