Two reporters – including one from Arutz-7 – were injured by rock-throwing Arabs today while accompanying a tour of Knesset Members.
The incident occurred at the Kalandia checkpoint, just north of Jerusalem.
The reporters, Arutz-7’s Hizky Ezra and Daniel Ophir of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, were in the car of MK Michael Ben-Ari. Two of his three National Union party colleagues, Dr. Aryeh Eldad and Uri Ariel, were in other cars.
Ben-Ari’s car was held up at the checkpoint by a traffic jam, and one or more Arabs threw rocks at the car from point-blank range. MK Eldad and an IDF medic administered first-aid to the two journalists, who were then taken to a hospital for further treatment.
Ben-Ari later provided further details: “We were touring some eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods, and when we returned via Kalandia, some Arabs came up to me and said, ‘Get out of here, so there won’t be problems.’ I said to them, ‘You should leave here, so there won’t be problems.’ Suddenly, they started throwing rocks, and the journalist sitting next to me was hit in the face; the whole car was filled with blood. Aryeh Eldad immediately jumped up and bandaged him, and from there he was taken to the hospital.”
Eldad said, “This shows that the police and the security forces have abandoned a security area of Israel, allowing the PA police and Hamas to act here as if it were theirs. Only fools believe that if we give up northern Jerusalem, we won’t have to battle tomorrow for Jaffa Street or the President’s House.”