Fatally wounded, Ari Fuld prevented terrorist from stabbing falafel shop worker

Ari Fuld, the Israeli man who was killed Sunday by a Palestinian terrorist in the West Bank, pursued his assailant after he had been fatally stabbed, stopping him from attacking a mall employee, and possibly saving her life.

Security camera footage of the shopping mall at the Gush Etzion Junction released on Monday shows Fuld, with blood pouring down his back chasing and shooting 17-year-old Khalil Jabarin.

Fuld, a resident of the nearby Efrat settlement and father of four, was rushed to a Jerusalem hospital, but was declared dead shortly after.

Falafel shop worker Hila Peretz told Channel 10 news on Monday that she saw Jabarin fatally stab Fuld outside the shop a few minutes after serving the Palestinian teenager.

Ari Fuld (Facebook)

“I served him the falafel; his hand touched mine,” Peretz said of the chilling encounter. “He went out, walked away, and sat on the railing outside the pizza shop. He sat there for at least 40 minutes.

“He didn’t attract suspicion,” she added, “because he was a kid.”

17-year-old Khalil Jabarin, who fatally stabbed Israeli Ari Fuld in a West Bank terror attack on September 16, 2018 (Screenshot/Twitter)

Then, she said, she “saw him pull out this big knife that was glimmering in the sun, and all of the sudden he plunged it into [Ari Fuld’s] heart.” (Jabarin stabbed Fuld from behind, security footage shows.)

Afterwards, Peretz said Jabarin began to run toward her with the knife drawn. She ran for her life, shouting “terrorist,” she said.

“The terrorist was right behind me,” she recalled. “I started running down the stairs but he jumped to try to get in front of me. The man that was killed really saved my life.”

She added of Fuld: “He’s not just a hero. He gave his life for me.”

Peretz’s husband, Moti, said in an interview Monday that Fuld’s actions undoubtedly saved his wife’s life.

“[When Jabarin] saw her, he lifted the knife up to stab her,” he told Channel 10. “Just then… Ari got up… and started to chase him and subdued him, like a lion.”

“Fuld saved her, and she owes him her life,” he added. “We aren’t processing this, Hila isn’t processing this,” he added.

Jabarin, who is being treated in a Jerusalem hospital, was said Monday to be lightly injured by the gunfire from Fuld and a second Israeli civilian.

Jabarin had attempted to carry out a similar attack in the West Bank two days earlier, Hadashot news reported.

Jabarin went to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron on Friday with a knife concealed underneath his clothes, but the high number of Israeli security forces at the entrance to the holy site deterred him from attempting an attack, the report said.

Hila Peretz, a falafel shop worker, on September 17, 2018 says Ari Fuld saved her life in a terror attack at the Gush Etzion junction a day earlier. (screen capture: Channel 10)

Two days later, he chose a new location: the Hadarim mall at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank, south of Jerusalem. According to the report, he arrived at the mall that morning, hid a knife in the bathroom on the second floor, and began to stake out the area.

Hadashot reported that Jabarin was stopped twice that morning by security guards from a nearby supermarket after arousing their suspicions. However, since he was not armed, the 17-year-old was not detained.

He subsequently returned to the toilet, retrieved his knife, ate the falafel, and then stabbed Fuld in the back on the sidewalk outside.

Ynet news reported Monday evening that dozens of people had arrived at a hill near Efrat and were planning to set up an illegal outpost there in memory of Fuld.

Jabarin’s parents said they warned both Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Sunday morning that their son argued with them about going to school before running away from home, and that he could possibly carry out an attack.

In response to the attack, IDF troops descended on the Jabarin home in a pre-dawn raid Monday to measure it for demolition and question family members.

The son of Ari Fuld places his hands on his father’s body at his funeral in Kfar Etzion on September 17, 2018. (Gershon Elinson/FLASH90)

The IDF said earlier that Israeli security forces planned to arrest members of the Jabarin family to investigate what information they had about his plans before he carried out the attack. No arrests have yet been made.

Fuld was a well-known Israel advocate and right-wing activist. His killing pierced the community of pro-Israel advocacy, and activists recalled him as a dogged supporter of the Jewish state. His death was roundly condemned across the Israeli political spectrum. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly also spoke out against violence in reaction to the attack, although the PA’s daily newspaper misrepresented what had occurred..

Thousands attended Fuld’s funeral late Sunday night in the settlement of Kfar Etzion, where he was eulogized as a hero who fought for Israel.