A hareidi IDF soldier and two Nahal Hareidi foundation rabbis were miraculously saved from an Arab terrorist shooting at them last Tuesday at Adam Junction, located north of Jerusalem in Samaria.
The terrorist tried to shoot at the three, but somehow his weapon jammed; after realizing he was powerless to harm the soldier and rabbis, the Arab terrorist turned tail and fled the scene.
At the time of the attempted attack, the rabbis were on their way to Jerusalem from the Peles Nahal Base in the Jordan Valley, a training base for the Hareidi Brigade (Nahal Hareidi). The hareidi soldier had joined them leaving the base.
At Adam Junction when they slowed down, a young Arab terrorist jumped into the junction with a pistol in his hand, and charged at their car.
"We let another car that arrived from our left go first," said one of the rabbis. "Suddenly I see a young Arab in his 20s jump from the side of the road with something black in his hand. It took me a second to realize that it was a pistol."
"The youth ran towards the back seat and tried to shoot at us, but the pistol didn't fire," added the rabbi.
The rabbi notes that "after a few seconds that seemed like eternity, when I was shaking and hunched over to take cover, I turned to see where he (the terrorist) was and why there was no sound of gunfire. I realized he was trying to shoot at one of the rabbis who sat next to the driver, and there too the pistol didn't work. At that point I shouted at the driver to get us out of there."
"He was looking for a soldier...we were saved by engaging in Torah"
The other rabbi recounted that he noticed the terrorist even before the attack.
"I saw the youth before the attack leaning on the security barrier and not doing anything," the rabbi recalled. "Suddenly he pounced towards the car. It seemed he was specifically looking for a soldier."
Immediately after the attack, the rabbis and soldier continued to the nearby Hizma checkpoint, where they notified security forces who began searching for the terrorist immediately, arresting several suspects.
After several hours of investigation, the rabbis and soldier were sent home by security forces.
"It was simply a miracle. We were at the junction and therefore were driving very slowly. If his weapon had worked, it could have ended terribly," noted one of the rabbis. "We were returning from cultural and Torah-based activities that we have done for years with the hareidi soldiers, and there's no doubt that stood to our credit in Heaven to be saved from the shooting."