Christian Arab arrested in Shavuot stabbing in Jerusalem
John Kakish, 19, a resident of Israel, allegedly carried out attack near the Old City on May 24 to ‘take revenge’
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The Shin Bet security service in conjunction with Jerusalem police arrested a suspect in the stabbing of two Israeli teens near the city’s Damascus Gate last week, the Shin Bet announced Thursday.
The attack came on the Jewish festival of Shavuot, when many observant Jews stay up all night studying religious texts.
According to the Shin Bet, John Kakish, 19, a Christian resident of Israel living in Jerusalem’s Old City, admitted during his interrogation that he had been motivated to commit the attack out of a desire to “take revenge on Jews.”
The Shin Bet added that Kakish was arrested in the past for other assaults on Jews.
After the May 24 attack, Magen David Adom paramedics treated the two 17-year-olds at the scene of the incident on Sultan Suleiman Street in East Jerusalem, outside the Old City.
The victims were taken to Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem for further treatment after they suffered moderate wounds.
The two were apparently on their way to the Western Wall when they were stabbed in the back.
Emergency services were called shortly after 2:30 a.m.
Kakish was identified on security camera footage as he allegedly attempted to flee the scene in the wake of the stabbing, the Ynet news site reported.
Israeli authorities arrested him when he returned home. A knife and other evidence connecting the suspect to the crime were found nearby, the report said.
Kakish, the Shin Bet said, claimed the attack came in response to racist slogans he was exposed to in the Old City, as well as incidents of violence carried out by Jews against him.
The Times of Israel Community.