IDF officer dismissed for failing to intervene in terror attack

An IDF officer from the armored corps has been relieved of his command for failing to intervene in a terror attack in Jerusalem.

The officer, from the storied 401st armored brigade, was dismissed for behavior unbecoming of an officer, the army said Sunday.

The officer, who was not named, was at the scene of the October 9 shooting attack near Ammunition Hill, in which two people were killed, including a police officer.

“The officer was dismissed because he didn’t engage the attacker, and acted contrary to what is expected from him as an officer,” the army said.

The victims of the attack were Levana Malihi, 60, and police officer First Sergeant Yosef Kirma, 29.

Kirma, a member of the elite police reconnaissance unit Yasam, was killed in the shootout while trying to charge the gunman, police said. “He fearlessly pursued the terrorist in order to neutralize him and prevent further harm to innocent bystanders,” the police statement said. Kirma was decorated after helping to stop a terror attack in December 2015.

The gunman — Mesbah Abu Sabih, a 39-year-old resident of Silwan in East Jerusalem — also wounded five other people, before police shot and killed him. Three of the injured were shot and two others hurt after the terrorist plowed his car into theirs.

In October, Channel 10 reported that an armed civilian attempted to shoot the terrorist, while an armed soldier fled the scene.