(JTA) — A 19-year-old Palestinian man was arrested for holding an Israeli woman at knifepoint.
The Palestinian, from the West Bank village of Tulkarm, pressed a knife to the neck of a woman from the northern Israeli village of Kfar Tavor, according to Haaretz. The man apparently had crossed into Israel illegally and was working in construction in the village.
The victim was saved when a nearby woman heard a scream and called to her husband, an off-duty police officer. The policeman pointed a gun at the Palestinian man, demanded he release the woman and held him until police arrived to arrest him.
Police said it was unclear whether the attacker had nationalistic motives.
