Israelis worried but defiant as wave of stabbings continues

Israelis are deeply unnerved in the midst of a spate of stabbings that have brought back memories of previous Palestinian uprisings, but say they are ready to “confront” any attacker.

Those who witnessed the 1987 and 2000 intifadas especially are reverting to making mental lists of places to avoid and basic safety habits.

On Thursday in downtown Tel Aviv, in front of the Hagana train station, many young soldiers quicken their pace, choosing to walk along the wall not the main road.

They know they are easy targets in this open area where a young conscript was stabbed last year.

“It’s us the terrorists track down first,” said one soldier, nervously keeping an eye on his surroundings while smoking a cigarette in front of the station.

“We’ve received advice to be vigilant — especially for those who, like me, are not armed,” he added.

Four Israelis were wounded in stabbings carried out by Palestinian terrorists on Thursday and one of the assailants was killed, police said.

Another Israeli, 22-year-old settler Ishay Kaplan, traveled to Tel Aviv from his home in the West Bank by hitchhiking and taking a bus and then train with his firearm visible under his T-shirt. “Just in case,” he told AFP.

Kaplan said he saw a video showing a Palestinian attempting to stab an ultra-Orthodox Jew at a bus stop in a Tel Aviv neighborhood on Saturday. Bystanders neutralized the attacker despite some in the crowd calling for him to be killed.

“Some fled, others threw themselves on top of him,” said the young settler. “I can tell you that I’ll know what to do” if needed, he said.

Gun on hip

During the second intifada, suicide attacks against buses and restaurants were usually followed by long seconds of stunned, helpless silence.

But today Israelis, mobile phones at hand to film and some with personal or service weapons on hip, are ready to take on any attackers, who recently have mostly been young Palestinians with knives.

Israeli authorities are encouraging vigilance, but have called on citizens to avoid vigilante acts of revenge.

The mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, has gone as far as to encourage residents who own guns to carry them around with them.

“Possessing weapons increases the confidence of residents,” he said on Monday as he toured East Jerusalem, his own gun in full sight. “They will increase the likelihood of fast intervention.”

Many Jerusalem residents have started to scan their surroundings with suspicion as violence has escalated in Jerusalem and the West Bank in the past week.

Security checks have been stepped up in public areas, especially at bus and train stations where security guards now ask for identification.

Police have installed metal detectors at entrances to the religious and historical center of the Old City of Jerusalem.

In another sign of the underlying worry, the US consulate in Jerusalem has banned its employees from travelling to the Old City or the West Bank.