Good Samaritan in Tel Aviv attack rebuffs hero talk
Gilad Goldman, who jumped out of his car and punched the terrorist, says his wife is mad at him
A passerby who tried to prevent a terrorist from stabbing a soldier in Tel Aviv Monday afternoon said he did not hesitate to act, even after being injured while trying to stop the attacker.
Gilad Goldman, 59, said he sprang into action after seeing a man assault Almog Shimoni near the Hahagana train station in South Tel Aviv Monday afternoon, he told Channel 2 in an interview from a hospital bed Monday evening.
“It all happened so fast. We were driving by when I saw him trying to stab the soldier and grab his gun, so I got out of the car and punched him. He dropped the knife and ran away,” Goldman said.
Kobi Langleben, who was in the car with Goldman, pursued the terrorist after he began to run away. “I was chasing him in my car, yelling ‘Terrorist,’ and I called the police,” he said in the same interview.
Shimoni, 20, died of his wounds Monday evening after doctors tried in vain for several hours to save him. The attack was the first of two fatal stabbing incidents Monday, the second coming hours later near the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut.
The assailant in the Tel Aviv attack, identified as Nur al-Din Abu Hashiyeh, an 18-year-old Palestinian from Nablus who had entered Israel illegally, was apprehended by police 200 meters from the train station and taken into police custody.
Goldman was treated at Ichilov Hospital for minor injuries, sustained when trying to stop the attack.
“I’m in a little pain, but it’s nothing serious — it will pass,” he said. “A soldier was injured, and that is what really hurts.”
When asked if he was afraid to confront the terrorist, Goldman responded: “My wife is mad at me; she says that I can’t do things like this at my age, but I guess it’s something in your soul.
“I’m 59 years old, but I’m no hero or anything,” he insisted.
Goldman expressed his dismay at the current situation. “This reality has to change,” he said. “Not with yelling or shouting, but with respect for the Arab citizens of Israel, who are our brothers.”