British IDF soldier foils terrorist attack
V AN IDF soldier who grew up in Britain saved her life and those of others by fighting off a knife-wielding Palestinian terrorist on Tuesday.
Private Leanne Haroche was on a routine security patrol in the West Bank when a Palestinian attacker tried to stab her. She fought off several attempts by pushing him back, until her commander shot him.
“I pushed him and gave him a few hits with my gun,” said Private Haroche, 22. “Then he went to and from me and my commander, attempting to stab us.”
Her commander opened fire at the terrorist and Palestinian officials later declared the assailant dead. The soldier said that she had “been training all of my service” for an incident like this.
The attack took place at the Giti Avishar Junction south of Nablus. It came a day after a resident from a nearby settlement was attacked by Palestinians while jogging and taken to hospital with mild injuries.
Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Omer Yankelevitch declared the soldier a “heroine for us all,” writing on Twitter that as a British immigrant to Israel she “showed us all the strength of the connection between diaspora Jews and the State of Israel.”
In an official statement, the IDF said that “an assailant armed with a knife arrived at the and tried to stab a combat soldier and a squad commander. The combat soldier fought off the assailant and the squad commander shot and neutralised him.”
Soon after the attack Private Haroche phoned her parents in London to tell them she was safe, and the head of the local council arrived to praise her along with her fellow soldiers. “You are heroes,” said Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council. Thanks to you a much bigger attack was avoided.”
Another local politician, Eliyau Shaviro, mayor of Ariel, also visited the site and lauded “the resourcefulness of the soldiers and the quick response,” saying that it had “led to the result of a neutralized terrorist with no casualties among our forces.”