Safra Square
Safra SquareFlash 90

Police are looking for an Arab suspect in an attack on several Jews in Jerusalem on Monday evening.

The attack took place at at Safra Square, near City Hall. One of the people who was attacked, Kobi Bar of Rishon LeZion, recalled what happened in a conversation with Arutz Sheva on Tuesday.

"Last night at around ten o'clock, we approached City Hall, near Safra Square,” Bar said. “We sat in the amphitheater, with a few other couples, when suddenly a young Arab man showed up and demanded we leave the area, saying that no Jews were allowed there.”

Bar added that while most of the people left, he and a friend of his decided not to move.

"I refused to leave, at which point he began to hit us, he butted me in the nose. He kept swinging his hands and demanding we leave. I did not agree,” he said.

Subsequently, recalled Bar, police were called and arrived on the scene within fifteen minutes. "They took my statement, I gave identifying information about the attacker. I took a photo of him but it came out blurry.”

He added, “It’s too bad about the spoiled evening, but more than that I am appalled by the racism. Now I understand what we learned in history class about what they did to the Jews in Europe.”

The police promised Bar they would investigate the incident but a suspect has yet to be apprehended.

Last week, a Jewish man from the Binyamin region was assaulted in a random attack on the light rail train in Jerusalem. The young man told Arutz Sheva that he was targeted by a group of Arab youths, apparently due to his recognizably Jewish appearance.

He was part of a group traveling to a birthday party in Jerusalem, he recalled. As the train passed by the Beit Hanina neighborhood, three Arab youths approached their group. When the train stopped, the three got off – and as they did, one suddenly lunged forward and slapped him in the face.

Earlier this month, a 25-year-old man was stabbed in Jerusalem in what may have been a terrorist attack.

The attack took place on Stern Street in the Kiryat Yovel neighborhood. The man suffered injuries to his upper body. He was evacuated to hospital in light-to-moderate condition.

There have been several stabbing attacks in Jerusalem in recent weeks, all linked to terrorism. 

The wave of attacks includes one in which a man was badly wounded in a city park, and another in which a Jewish man was attacked as he walked to the Kotel (Western Wall) to pray.