N.Y. Rabbi Fired on While Walking Alone in the Old City from Sabbath Services at the Western Wall

A New York rabbi was fired on by an unidentified assailant in the Old City Friday night while walking alone from Sabbath services at the Western Wall. Rabbi David Blumenfeld, 50, who is executive director of the New York City Holocaust Memorial Commission, was slightly injured by stone fragments that grazed his head after a bullet aimed at him ricocheted off a wall. He was wearing a white silk skullcap at the time.

Blumenfeld, a member of Temple Israel in Great Neck, N.Y., a 1,300-member Conservative congregation headed by Rabbi Mordechai Waxman, made his way bleeding to Kisleh police station at the nearby Jaffa Gate. He was taken to Hadassah Hospital for treatment of what were minor wounds. Police, who closed off the area, found the gun used by the assailant. According to police spokesman Rafi Levy, about 20 Arab suspects were detained for questioning.

The incident was the latest in an upsurge of violence and the second assault with a deadly weapon in two days. An Israeli taxi driver, Moshe Amsalem, 35, was stabbed in the chest Thursday night after picking up two Arab passengers in Beersheba. He was taken to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba where his condition was reported to be serious.

Blumenfeld said later that whoever attacked him wanted “to instil fear in all Jews visiting the Old City.” He said the shooting would never deter him.

Israeli authorities said about 200 suspected members of terrorist organizations were detained after the assassination last Sunday of Zafer Al-Masri, the Israel-appointed new Mayor of Noblus. All but 20 have been released.

A SHARP RISE IN TERRORIST INCIDENTS

The authorities noted a sharp rise in the number of terrorist incidents in the administered territories since King Hussein of Jordan announced last month that he was abandoning his efforts with Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat to bring the PLO into the peace process.

According the authorities, there were 76 terrorist incidents in the past two weeks compared to 43 in the previous two-week period.

Police noted that taxi drivers have become a favorite target of terrorists. Most drivers now carry a pistol and are equipped with two-way radio communications. Amsalem had neither when he picked up two Arabs in the center of Beersheba Thursday night and was told to drive them to Tel Sheva, a Bedouin village east of town. Once out of Beersheba, Amsalem was grabbed around the throat by one passenger sitting behind him while the other, in the front seat, stabbed him.

When the cab stopped, the two assailants escaped, leaving the knife lodged in Amsalem’s chest a centimeter from his heart. He was able to drive back toward Beersheba but stopped and called for help at a gasoline station. Police were summoned and he was rushed to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.