Highway 443
Highway 443Israel news photo: Flash 90

Route 443, the road built to relieve traffic from route 1 by connecting  northern Jerusalem to Kiryat Sefer, Modiin and on to  Ben Gurion airport and Tel Aviv , opened to Palestinian Authority traffic in May, after years when only Israeli drivers were allowed on the highway due to dozens of terrorist attacks, some of them lethal. The Supreme Court order to open the road to PA Arabs was controversial becuase of fears that the ruling would put Israeli drivers at risk.

Arutz Sheva spoke Monday to Avrahami, an Israeli Jew who was attacked while driving on route 443 last Wednesday, when he was stoned by Arabs, who damaged the van in which he was driving belonging  to the charity organization Chasdei Naomi. The van was clearly marked with the name of the charity in Hebrew,  making it a sure target for the attackers, who could be certain that it was a Jewish-owned vehicle.

As Avrahami drove, he was suddenly pelted with heavy stones, one of which smashed into the front windshield. Looking around, he saw several men hiding in a ditch at the side of the road.

Fearing an ambush in which another vehicle would block his path, Avrahami quickly sped around the vehicle ahead of him and hurried to the nearest IDF checkpoint. He later filed a complaint with police, who said it could be reasonably assumed that the incident had been a terrorist attack.

"This used to be a safe highway. I never saw something like that before,” he said.