Yehuda Glick: U.S. Born Israeli Activist Shot At In Suspected Assassination Bid
Yehuda Glick, a prominent U.S.-born Israeli activist known for his right wing ideology, was seriously wounded in what is now thought to be an assassination attempt. According to Haaretz, Glick was shot at by an unidentified gunman on Wednesday night. The incident happened at just outside the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem. According to Reuters, the gunman spoke to Glick in Arabic accented Hebrew before shooting him several times from close range. It is now thought that the man asked Glick to confirm his name before he actually shot him. Yehuda Glick was in the midst of loading some equipment into his car after attending a meeting about the Temple Mount when the attack happened, the report adds.
One of the eyewitnesses to the incident is MK Moshe Feiglin, a leader of the far-right segment of the Likud party.
“The attempted murderer turned to him and confirmed in Hebrew, in a heavy Arabic accent, that it was Yehuda.”
Following the shooting, Glick was rushed to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem where he underwent a surgery for chest and abdominal wounds. According to hospital director general Dr. Jonathan Halevy, Yehuda is still listed to be in a serious but stable condition.
Police officials investigating the attack have not revealed whether they are considering this as a terrorist attack. All possibilities are, however, being investigated at this point. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has however already termed this a terrorist attack.
Ynet reports that Yehuda Glick was a chief activist for the movement that wanted to give Jews the right to pray at Temple Mount, the most sacred site in Judaism. Muslims, who call the site the Noble Sanctuary, also consider it to be among the holiest of their sites. The Temple Mount complex is home to the Al Aqsa mosque as well as the golden Dome of The Rock, from where Prophet Mohammad is said to have ascended to heaven. In the past, the police and the Shin Bet have barred Glick from entering the Temple Mount premises. Yehuda was also in the midst of fighting several legal battles against Israeli authorities to lift these bans against him.
A few hours before the assassination attempt against Yehuda Glick on Wednesday, he had delivered a presentation on the current situation at the Temple Mount. He also showed a video that showed Palestinians trying to scare Jewish visitors to the site away by chanting “Allahu Akbar” calls.
The heinous attack on Yehuda Glick comes days after the Inquisitr had reported about a sharp increase in the number of attacks on Jerusalemites by Palestinians.
[Image via YouTube]
