Tractor driver rams into 3 in Tel Aviv, reportedly after father stabbed in brawl

Water Authority worker lightly wounds 2 colleagues and a paramedic after work-related clash in which a 62-year-old sustained moderate injuries; no suspicion of terrorism

By ToI Staff 2 January 2025, 9:08 pm Edit
Magen David Adom ambulance workers stand at the scene where a tractor hit three people, lightly wounding them, in south Tel Aviv, January 2, 2025. (Magen David Adom)
Magen David Adom ambulance workers stand at the scene where a tractor hit three people, lightly wounding them, in south Tel Aviv, January 2, 2025. (Magen David Adom)

A Water Authority worker driving a tractor rammed into two colleagues and a paramedic in south Tel Aviv Thursday, lightly injuring them, first responders said. The ramming came after a work-related brawl in which another man, said to be the driver’s father, was stabbed, sustaining moderate wounds.

The driver, a Haifa resident, was arrested by police officers who came to break up the fight, police said.

Police stressed that the ramming was not a terrorist act, after rumors spread that the incident was nationalistic in nature.

Footage of the ramming showed workers and passers-by throwing items at the Bobcat tractor before it plowed into the crowd. One person could be heard yelling: “He’s killing him!”

A paramedic of the Magen David Adom ambulance service, who rushed to the scene of the brawl, was struck in the stomach by the tractor’s bucket.

According to Ynet, the ramming was preceded by a work-related brawl among Water Authority workers in which the rammer’s father was stabbed. It was unclear if the father was also a Water Authority worker.

 

The older man, 62, was taken to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital for treatment.

Eran Carmel and Lee Ross, two Magen David Adom paramedics, said they had found the 62-year-old lying in the tractor’s bucket, fully conscious and with penetrating wounds.

Two Water Authority workers, lightly injured after being struck by the bucket, were nearby, the paramedics said. They added that the workers were taken to a hospital after receiving first aid on the spot.

Yisrael Meir Yehudai, the paramedic who was wounded during the ramming, said he administered first aid to the two wounded workers and received treatment from other paramedics when they arrived.

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