Police brushed off my call, says rescued yeshiva student

One of five Americans extracted by IDF from Hebron says he was left on hold because cops didn’t understand English

By ToI Staff 4 September 2015, 7:39 pm

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American yeshiva students rush to a police car after they were rescued in Hebron by Israeli security forces on September 3, 2015. (screen capture: Ynet)

One of five American yeshiva students rescued by Israel Defense Forces soldiers from the West Bank city of Hebron said Friday that his emergency call to Israel Police when they were attacked by Palestinian rioters went unheeded.

The five had been heading Thursday for the Tomb of the Patriarchs when a wrong turn put them in the predominantly Arab southern part of the city. There, their car came under attack by Palestinians throwing stones and firebombs. They were forced out of the car when it was set alight by an incendiary device.

“I called the police the second I jumped out from the car and there was no answer. They left me on hold,” the Brooklyn resident, who was not identified by name, told Israel’s Ynet news website. He said that he had been left on hold because the police did not speak English.

The yeshiva student said that when he did get eventually through to the police, the officer on the other end of the line did not believe him. Only after he managed to reach the head of the ZAKA volunteer rescue service in Jerusalem, Benzi Oring, did the security forces take him seriously.

The police said in response that they “do not send forces to Palestinian villages without verifying the report.”

The five were rescued by a local Palestinian man, Faiz Abu Hamadiah, who took them into his home and notified the IDF of the situation. They were later extricated by Israeli security forces.

A police source told Ynet that some of the calls made by the tourists reached the Judea and Samaria police and others went to the Jerusalem District. He said that initially the operators had difficulty understanding the caller. Only after they spoke to the Palestinian who had taken them into his home did they understand what had happened and where they were, and dispatched security forces to the scene.

“We’re still in shock, and we are a little bit traumatized, but it’s getting better,” the student told Ynet, adding that he was looking forward to Shabbat dinner with Oring, who he said saved his life.