Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited one of the two surviving wounded Israeli Border Guard Police officers hospitalized at Hadassah Mount Scopus Medical Center on Thursday.
Ravit was one of three who were wounded in a complex terror attack at the Damascus Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem.
It was the police officers who prevented a certain mass casualty attack from taking place within the Old City, having fearlessly approached the suspects to ask for identification when they acted suspiciously. As one presented his ID, his two companions produced concealed guns and knives, and immediately stabbed the police officers.
The officer with whom the prime minister visited, Ravit, told him what had happened during the attack. She added, “We are here to protect Israel’s citizens. That’s why we enlisted, and why we are here.
“I have no doubt that Hadar knew this and acted from this belief. I realize that Hadar saved my life,” she said.
“Your responsiveness and resourcefulness prevented a huge disaster,” Netanyahu said in praise of all the officers. “All of Israel embraces you, and sends to you wishes for a speedy recovery.”
The prime minister also visited an IDF soldier wounded in a terror attack Sunday in Samaria near Beit El carried out by a member of the elite, U.S.-trained Palestinian Authority security police force.
After the visit, Netanyahu declared, “Ravit acted heroically and resourcefully along with her colleagues. Together with the commander of their force, they prevented a large disaster. And of course we are all saddened by the death of Hadar Cohen, a real heroine. We all embrace her family.”
Netanyahu told reporters the government is carrying out a “large effort against terror.
“Qabatiya (the home village of two of the terrorists) is closed. The IDF is operating there with the Shin Bet and making widespread arrests. We have canceled many work permits into Israel, and the attorney general informed me… he has added a number of terrorists’ homes to be marked for demolition. This is only a portion of our efforts.
“It will take time to overcome terror – Islamic terror has spread throughout the world, inciting millions in countries from Jakarta to Africa, all the way to California,” Netanyahu pointed out.
“We are in this fray – it is not passing us by – but we are fighting it with great power and will continue to do so.”