Terror victim shows improvement after Givat Ze’ev stabbing

An Israeli man seriously wounded in a stabbing terror attack in the West Bank on Wednesday has improved, and he can now breathe unaided, officials at the Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem said Friday afternoon.

Menachem Mendel Rivkin is conscious and communicating with those around him, Channel 2 television quoted the doctors as saying. He is still being treated at the hospital’s intensive care unit.

Rivkin, a resident of Givat Ze’ev, was attacked late Wednesday evening after leaving a restaurant. Footage from security cameras shows that the Palestinian stabber followed Rivkin and his wife after they left the building, then lunged at him, stabbing him once in his neck before fleeing.

Civilians who were in the area gave chase, catching the assailant when he tripped and fell, and held him until the police arrived.

Rivkin’s wife, Brachi, said that the attack was over in seconds.

“We left the car, we walked for maybe a meter. We parked right by the burger place, and suddenly my husband tells me ‘I’ve been stabbed’. I looked around and didn’t see anyone. It all happened in a few seconds,” she told Channel 2.

“Everyone ran out to chase the terrorist, and so I stayed with [her husband], not quite sure what to do. I sensed he was losing blood and was not with me,” she said. After the stabber was overpowered, a crowd tried to lynch him, but were stopped by two people at the scene.

According to Channel 2, the attacker was taken away for questioning by the Shin Bet security service on Friday, having sustained only minor wounds when he was overpowered.