Jerusalem Terror Victim Identified As Druze Arab Border Guard Jaddan Assad

Following another terror attack on the streets of Jerusalem today, in which one man died and at least a 10 others were wounded, some of them critically, the deceased has been identified as Border Patrol officer Jaddan Assad, a Druze from the north of Israel.

Even though the terrorist, who drove his white van into a crowd of people waiting for a train, was specifically targeting Jews, he actually succeeded in killing a fellow Arab, albeit no a Muslim, from the Druze religion.

The 38-year-old victim, who was a Chief Inspector in the Border Police, is survived by his pregnant wife, Dareen and his three-year-old son, Amir.

His bereaved father released a statement soon after hearing of his son’s death, saying, “I urge leaders to reach an agreement in order to avoid the bloodshed and avoid more casualties from all sectors – Jews, Arabs and Druze. All my sons serve in the security forces; the Border Police was in his blood and soul. He loved the service and he loved Jerusalem.”

The perpetrator of the attack today, Ibrahim al-Akari, was know to authorities to be a Hamas operative, living in an east Jerusalem neighborhood, but as he has Israeli citizenship, enjoys all the rights and privileges of all citizens in Israel, which includes driving in the whole of Jerusalem.

One of the five officers who eliminated al-Akari described the incident.

“[T]he terrorist opened the door, ran out with an iron bar, and began to hit vehicles and civilians. We commenced shooting in order to neutralize him. I haven’t a shadow of a doubt that any soldier would have done the same.”

He continued that as the officers were driving on the road, they saw the assailant’s vehicle hit officers and civilians near the train.

“We realized that it was a terrorist attack and started in pursuit, while he continued to hit vehicles and innocent civilians, until we succeeded in halting him at the nearby intersection. That is how we train our fighters and we acted accordingly. Today we lost an officer and a friend. My condolences to his family, and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded.”

Blame for today’s terror attack has been squarely placed by the Israeli government at the feet of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President for his recent incident of Muslims, both Palestinians and Arab Israelis, to express their rage against Jews.