Yeshiva rabbi stoned by Arabs to make rock part of foundation for new dorms

A head of a yeshiva high school survived an attack by Arabs on the way to work.

By Jack Gold, World Israel News

A rabbi of a yeshiva high school in the town of Hashmonaim in Samaria was attacked by a group of Arabs throwing rocks on Monday while he was on the way to work.

Israel National News reported that Rabbi Itamar Liberman of Ner Tamid yeshiva for high school-aged students in Hashmonaim, was on his way to the school when his car was suddenly hit by rocks thrown by Arabs near the Israeli town of Neve Tzuf.

The car’s windshield was shattered, and Liberman temporarily lost control of the vehicle during the attack.

Liberman was “miraculously” able to gain control of the car and drive to an IDF checkpoint. He reported the incident to the soldiers to ensure that no other Israeli motorists were attacked.

Liberman told INN that this attack is just the latest evidence of the deteriorating sense of security Israelis are experiencing in Samaria.

He recounted the incident to his students, who told him that there have recently been a number of protests by Neve Tzuf residents over the deteriorating security situation in the area.

The road from Neve Tzuf to Talmon and Dolev, other Israeli towns in the area, had been closed to Arabs following a number of attacks. It was recently reopened to Arab traffic, which Israeli residents are protesting.

Liberman told INN that “all morning I’ve been thinking about what the people who threw the stones were thinking. They wanted me to die, for us to be sad, to weaken us as a group, that we should be afraid to drive here, that we should be in this area less.

“I thank the cowardly Arab who threw the stone and by extension to the whole world; we will, God-willing, live more, be happy more, learn more, and volunteer more, and will be present here more in every sense of the word.”

He added that the rock which smashed his windshield would be the foundation stone for the next set of dormitories for the yeshiva, “symbolizing the cementing of the Jewish presence in the area in response to such attacks,” as he put it.

“Those who hoped to weaken us this morning will instead find us only strengthened. Dear Arab [stone-thrower], thanks for the ‘shakeup’,” he concluded.