American-Israeli car-ramming victim raps Rivlin for not calling

After US diplomat in Jerusalem wished him speedy recovery, David Ramati laments nobody from Israeli president’s office phoned ‘to see if I was even alive’

By Jacob Magid

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19 November 2017, 4:16 pm

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Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

An American-Israeli lightly injured in a Friday car-ramming attack in the West Bank complained Sunday that no Israeli officials had inquired into his wellbeing, though he received a call from an American representative “on behalf of President Donald Trump.”

David Ramati told The Times of Israel that while US Deputy Consul General in Jerusalem Mike Hankey called to wish him a speedy recovery, “nobody from (President Reuven) Rivlin’s office called to see if I was even alive.”

The 70-year-old was released from the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem on Sunday, two days after sustaining a head wound and two broken vertebrae when a Palestinian terrorist ran him over at the Efrat South Junction.

Ramati said that Hankey also thanked him for his service in the US Marine Corps. The Chicago native and 45-year resident of the Kiryat Arba settlement fought in the Vietnam War and, he said, his unit received a presidential citation from president Lyndon Johnson.

Israeli soldiers stand guard at the Gush Etzion Junction after a terrorist rammed his car into two Israelis there earlier in the day, on November 17, 2017. (Israel Defense Forces)

“It’s sad that American officials reached out, but the government here in Jerusalem says nothing,” Ramati added.

A spokesman from Rivlin’s office said that the president landed back in Israel from Los Angeles just as the Sabbath was starting, and intends to reach out to Ramati in the near future.

Even Ezer Holaring, 35, who was seriously wounded in a car-ramming terror attack on November 17, 2017 (courtesy)

Seriously injured in Friday’s attack was another Kiryat Arba resident, 35-year-old Even Ezer Holaring. He remained sedated in the intensive care ward and is not yet breathing on his own, the Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem said Saturday night.

The army said that the driver, having rammed into civilians, got out of his car with a knife and tried to stab soldiers who were standing nearby.

“The soldiers responded by firing toward the attacker, resulting in his injury,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

Speaking to reporters from his hospital bed hours after the attack, Ramati described seeing the Palestinian terrorist, “with a big smile on his face,” driving toward him at some 100 kilometers (60 miles) an hour. Ramati said he was armed at the time, but decided against shooting the 17-year-old terrorist, after realizing that jumping away from the van would be the only way he would survive the attack.

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.