Jerusalem Mayor Sees Stabbing, Tackles Attacker

A Palestinian man with a knife stabbed a Jewish man in Jerusalem yesterday, only to be tackled by the mayor of the city, Reuters reports. After the attacker stabbed the victim—who wasn't badly hurt—he tried to attack other bystanders, but they fled. Mayor Nir Barkat and his security guard took on the man within seconds, Haaretz reports. Barkat knocked him down and police arrested him. The mayor and the guard had been driving in the area, Barkat says, per Haaretz. "My bodyguard and I jumped straight out of the car; he drew his weapon and together we caught the terrorist until police arrived," he notes. "We took care of the wounded, who, happily, was only lightly wounded."

"This, too, is part of our life in Jerusalem. It's clear that if he would have looked to continue stabbing, he wouldn't have been alive now. But he threw the knife away," Barkat, 55, a former military officer, continues. The event was caught on a security camera. The ultra-Orthodox victim is 27, the BBC reports. The 18-year-old suspect was in Israel illegally and was detained, AFP reports via Al Arabiya. The attack is one of a number of recent stabbings of Israelis by Palestinians, AFP notes. (More Jerusalem stories.)