Supermarket owner says he won’t let terror attackers win

Hours after a Palestinian youth grabbed a knife off a rack and stabbed two customers in one of his stores, supermarket mogul Rami Levy vowed his chain would continue to operate as normal.

“We will not let this affect us, or change our routine,” Levy told reporters at the scene of the attack in Mishor Adumim, east of Jerusalem.

Two people were moderately injured in the Wednesday afternoon attack, which took place just inside one of Levy’s eponymous supermarkets in a West Bank industrial zone.

Levy, whose chain has a major presence in the West Bank and is popular with both Israelis and Palestinians, said the incident wouldn’t keep customers from his stores. He also said he would continue to employ Arab and Jewish workers.

“This also happened in the center [of Israel], and in much less dangerous places. Keeping us away from these places is what they want, that’s their goal, and we won’t give it to them. I call on people to come more, to this branch and to every place there is a stabbing, just like I call on people to come more to Jerusalem,” he said.

True to his word, hours after the attack, shoppers were busy pushing carts and picking out produce in the supermarket aisles as on any other Wednesday evening, though a heavy police and military presence remained.

The assailant, who was shot in the leg by an off-duty member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security detail who happened to be in the store, was identified as a 16-year-old from the West Bank town of al-Azariya on the outskirts of Jerusalem, who arrived at the supermarket with two accomplices from his hometown.

Levy emphasized that the terrorist did not work at his store, which has 180 employees.

The two victims, men in their 50s, were lightly to moderately injured. One was wounded in the head; the other, in the hand. They were both fully conscious and evacuated to Jerusalem for treatment.

One of the injured was a paramedic who fought with the attacker.

The two Palestinians who accompanied the assailant to the store were arrested on the scene.

One of the store’s employees was also questioned by police, but was later released. Levy had insisted that none of his employees had anything to do with the attack.

The attack came two days after a man was stabbed by a Palestinian assailant at a bus stop at the Gush Etzion Junction, in the southern West Bank. The female attacker was shot by troops in the area. Coincidentally, that attack also took place near a Rami Levy supermarket.

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Ma’ale Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel stressed that although there would be inevitable demands for Palestinians to be banned from the industrial zone, he was committed to ensuring that they continue to work at Mishor Adumim and make a decent living.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Mishor Adumim attack.