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Tensions high in Jerusalem in aftermath of infant’s death

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish mourners carry the body of 3-month-old Chaya Zissel Braun during her funeral in Jerusalem on Thursday.
(Menahem Kahana / AFP/Getty Images)
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Tensions remained high in Jerusalem on Friday with added police security after a Jewish infant died this week when a car driven by a Palestinian man plowed into a group of people at a light-rail stop.

Los Angeles native and Jerusalem resident Shmuli Braun and his wife Chanie were returning from the Western Wall, where they had taken their baby daughter for the first time.

They had disembarked from a light-rail car when Abd al Rahman Shaludi’s vehicle careened into the passengers, fatally injuring 3-month old Chaya Zissel Braun. Eight other people were injured, including the baby’s father, who suffered a broken rib and light injuries.

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Shaludi, a 20-year-old resident of the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, fled the car on foot and was shot by a police officer. He died several hours later in a Jerusalem hospital.

The driver was lauded by Hamas officials and supporters on social media for what they viewed as a heroic act. However, Shaludi’s family insisted he lost control of the vehicle and did not intend to hit the crowd.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Friday that based on CCTV footage and the account of a police officer at the scene, there is no doubt that Shaludi hit the group deliberately. “This was absolutely a terror attack,” Rosenfeld said.

In the wake of the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of inciting rhetoric encouraging attacks against Jews. In response, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Israel’s government of making “unfounded and inflammatory accusations” that he said prove it has “turned its back on peace.”

The U.S. administration condemned the incident as a “despicable attack” and extended condolences to the family. Chaya Zissel was an American citizen, as are her parents.

The baby’s paternal grandparents, Moshe and Esther Braun, who live in Los Angeles, have traveled to Israel for the shiva, the seven-day Jewish formal mourning period.

In a condolence visit Friday, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonowitz promised the baby’s family that he would push for “punishment of the murderer’s family” by demolishing or sealing up its home. The measure is used at times by Israeli authorities, although it is controversial and of debated effectiveness.

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Tensions in the mixed city have repeatedly erupted into violence in recent months since the killing of three Jewish teenagers abducted in the West Bank in June, which was followed by the revenge slaying of a Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem in early July.

Unrest has persisted with rocks and firebombs targeting police and civilians, and clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and security forces. Jewish residents have urged stronger police action to restore security. Palestinians have decried what they regard as an organized campaign against them.

Since July, more than 700 Palestinians have been arrested. In one case, clashes with police left one Palestinian teenager dead in disputed circumstances.

Security was heightened Friday as police and other forces were deployed in large numbers around the Old City and trouble-prone hot spots, prepared for possible unrest following the Muslim midday prayers. Muslim men under 40 were barred from praying at Al Aqsa mosque. Some scuffles broke out in Palestinian areas in Jerusalem; no serious injuries were reported.

For Shimshon Halperin, a longtime resident of New York, a visit to his daughter Chanie to celebrate the holidays turned into a time of mourning for his granddaughter Chaya Zissel.

Halperin did not want to comment on the political situation that may have led to the family’s tragedy.

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“This is not for me to say. But it hurts to see that the life of a 3-month-old baby was taken for no reason,” he said. The parents, he said, are deeply pained but accept it as “a decree that comes from God.”

Sobelman is a special correspondent.

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