Arab Kills 2 in Jerusalem, Spurs Vows of ‘Revenge’
A Palestinian Muslim shouting “God is Great” stabbed two Israelis to death and wounded three in Jerusalem’s main street today, drawing vows of revenge from crowds of angry Israelis.
Israeli civilians chased the assailant into a flower shop where they beat and kicked him until police intervened.
About three hours after the stabbing, police fired tear gas to disperse dozens of followers of Rabbi Meir Kahane’s anti-Arab Kach Party who shouted “revenge, revenge.” Some of the crowd tried to attack passing Palestinians, but police escorted the Arabs away for their own protection.
The group of Kahane’s followers was en route to the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, to stage a protest when it was halted by police.
Kahane, who is from Brooklyn, N.Y., and who founded the Jewish Defense League in the United States, was arrested along with six of his followers. They were charged with disturbing public order.
Police did not name the attacker, a man in his 20s from the West Bank town of Ramallah. But Police Minister Haim Bar-Lev said he was from Islamic Jihad, a movement which claimed to carry out an October, 1986, attack at Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall that killed one Israeli and wounded 69.
Those killed today were Nissim Levy, 91, and lawyer Vardy Kelman, 60. An 80-year-old woman, Rivka Babasano, was the most critically wounded.
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