17-Year-Old American Israeli Stabbed in Jerusalem, Vows to Join Elite IDF Unit

JERUSALEM – A 17-year-old stabbed in the back and lightly wounded in Jerusalem on Saturday has been identified as an American Israeli who immigrated to the Jewish state from Brooklyn six weeks ago in order to join the Israel Defense Forces.

The teenager was stabbed next to Damascus Gate, one of several ancient gates leading to Jerusalem’s Old City.

The American teenager told Israel’s Ynetnews website that he still intends to join the IDF. “I want to join Sayeret Matkal,” he told the website, referring to an elite, special forces unit of the IDF. “I was stabbed, and now I’m going to join the army and give it my all.”

The teenager, whose name is being withheld because he is a minor, was attacked by two assailants who fled the scene. An hour after the incident, local police announced that they detained two Arab suspects from eastern Jerusalem who matched witness descriptions of the attackers.

“I saw them running and I started to run,” the teen said. “I realized it was an attack and that I’d been stabbed. I didn’t see him before he came up behind me. There were two of them and they both had knives.”

Ynet further reported:

The teenager was attacked at 5.40pm on Sultan Suleiman Street, next to Damascus Gate outside the Old City. A spokesperson from the Jerusalem District Police said that two young Jews were set on by the attackers after leaving the Western Wall, but that the second one managed to run back into the Old City via Damascus Gate, where he alerted police about the attack.

Paramedics treated the teenager at the scene, before he was taken to the Hadassah Mt. Scopus Hospital. The hospital confirmed that it had received the teenager in its emergency room, lightly wounded but conscious.

The wounded teen made aliyah (immigrated) to Israel six weeks ago in order to join the army, leaving behind his ultra-Orthodox family in Brooklyn. Currently studying at a pre-military academy outside Jerusalem, he had been on his way back from prayers when he and his friend were attacked.

Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.