A vehicle that carried members of Israel's Habima national theater company came under a rock attack as it drove to Tel Aviv Tuesday evening, following a show in the Jerusalem Theater. No one was injured, but it was a very close call, reported Israel Hayom.
Seated in the car – alongside the driver, whose name was not reported – were actresses Lia Kenig, Tatiana Canelis Olier and Moran Rosen, director Roi Horowitz and production manager Ido Shanun.
About five kilometers after the steep downward incline on Road 443, on the way back from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, the passengers heard a loud crash as a rock that had been aimed at the front passenger seat hurtled into the car.
"We were driving along quietly, returning from a show, tired, and suddenly we heard a big boom and the vehicle's windshield shattered on all of us. The rock hit the seat, just a few millimeters from Tatiana, who was covered with broken glass. We are all in a state of shock and we were very lucky that nothing more serious happened,” said a member of the group.
After getting out of the car, the passengers noticed that other cars in their lane had also been hit by rocks.
Road 443 is located near the security barrier that was erected in the years following the outbreak of the Terror War of 2000 (the “Second Intifada”), to separate the Palestinian Authority from Israel's major population centers.
The High Court for Justice, under then-president Dorit Beinisch, decided three years ago to enable access to the route from several PA villages, despite protests from Jews who said that this would also let terrorists endanger motorists. The High Court ordered the IDF to install new security arrangements to protect Jewish drivers while allowing PA Arabs to drive on the road.
Beinisch noted the danger involved but said that “despite the understanding for the security needs," keeping PA drivers off the road gives “rise to a feeling of inequality and even an association of unacceptable motives.”