JERUSALEM (JTA) — A 17-year-old New Yorker who reportedly left his family six weeks ago to serve in the Israeli army was stabbed in the back in Jerusalem.
The haredi Orthodox teen, from Brooklyn, was stabbed Saturday evening just outside the Old City, next to the Damascus Gate, shortly after praying at the Western Wall, according to reports. He was lightly wounded and treated at Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus.
Surveillance video captured the attack by a group of Palestinian teens, police said. Three boys, ages 15 and 16 from eastern Jerusalem, are being held by police in connection with the attack. One suspect turned himself in hours after the attack, which was caught on surveillance video. Other arrests are expected, police said.
The victim, who is studying at a pre-military academy near Jerusalem, told Ynet that the attack has not changed his desire to serve in the army.
“I was stabbed, and now I’m going to join the army and give it my all,” he told Ynet, adding that he wants to join the elite field intelligence-gathering Sayeret Matkal unit.
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