5th Victim Dies in Jerusalem Attack

It was like 'scenes from the Holocaust,' says one witness
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 18, 2014 5:01 PM CST
5th Victim Dies in Jerusalem Attack
This combination of photos released by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, left, and Rabbi Moshe Twersky, two of the victims.   (AP Photo/Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

One of the two police officers wounded while stopping this morning's brutal attack inside a Jerusalem synagogue has died of his injuries, reports CNN. That brings to five the number of people killed by two Palestinian cousins wielding axes, knives, and a gun. The previous four who died were rabbis, three of them American-born. Both assailants were killed, and police later raided their families' homes, which will be demolished. Israel's intelligence agency, Shin Bet, says neither had a criminal record "and did not operate within the framework of any organization," reports the Los Angeles Times.

The New York Times, meanwhile, collects this quote, referring to the victims' religious garments: “To see Jews wearing tefillin and wrapped in the tallit lying in pools of blood, I wondered if I was imagining scenes from the Holocaust,” says Yehuda Meshi Zahav, who leads an emergency response group. “It was a massacre of Jews at prayer.” It was also the worst attack in Jerusalem since 2008, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised it will not go unpunished. After Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the murders, Netanyahu said it "is not enough." (More Israel stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X