Jerusalem District Police and Israel Security Agency officers launched a manhunt on Monday for a man suspected of attacking an ultra-Orthodox man on his way home from morning prayers at the Western Wall. The attack occurred Monday at around 8 a.m., when Nachum Weisfish, 69, was assaulted as he walked along Neviim Street in Jerusalem. The suspected assailant apparently noticed Weisfish walking alone and attacked him from behind, repeatedly attempting to strike him in the head with an ax. Lying in bed at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem, Weisfish told Israel Hayom, I was returning to my home in the Makor Baruch neighborhood after praying at the Western Wall as I do every day. I noticed someone running up behind me and tried to run away. When I turned around, I saw an Arab man wielding an ax. I tried to grab the ax and as we struggled it fell from his hand. At that point, the Arab man fled and I noticed that the ax had cut my wide-rimmed hat, which had partially blocked the strike. My kippah [skullcap] also helped block the blade. I phoned the police and waited until they arrived. A police spokesman said he believed the perpetrator would soon be apprehended. Weisfish, a 10th-generation Israeli, said, Arabs are testing our resolve everywhere. My grandfather was murdered by Arabs 75 years ago in Zichron Yaakov. I experienced a great miracle. Several attacks believed to have nationalist motives have taken place in Jerusalem over the past few months. An IDF soldier was attacked on March 25 in the Shmuel Hanavi neighborhood in Jerusalem by two Arabs who fled the scene. The soldier, who sustained light wounds, was wearing his uniform while he was attacked and told the police that he was beaten without any provocation on his part. Arabs asked me if I was a soldier and then beat me, he said. I didnt do anything to them. They attacked me without a reason, only because Im a soldier. On March 15, Pvt. Yehudit Aharon, a 19-year-old soldier from Jerusalem was stabbed while taking the Jerusalem light rail to her army base. Police said an Arab youth stabbed Aharon in the upper body, chest and arm, in a nationalistically motivated terror attack. Last fall, a man believed to be from the Palestinian village of Beit Iksa stabbed and seriously wounded 18-year-old Yehuda Neemad in the capitals Ramot neighborhood. After the Oct. 22 attack, several right-wing politicians issued angry responses, saying a hard line must be taken against the terrorists, especially since the incident occurred only a few days after Gilad Schalit was released by Hamas in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. After [Israels] generosity in the Schalit deal, it is time to show our resolve in the eradication of terrorism, MK Danny Danon (Likud) said at the time. MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) sharply criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government, saying, It gave terrorists a license to kill. Fellow National Union MK Aryeh Eldad said, We are witnessing a new wave of terrorism, and it has come about because terrorists were given a boost following the release of hundreds of murderers from Israeli prisons.
