A Palestinian man who tried to stab a Jewish worshipper outside the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday, Yom Kippur Eve, was shot and killed by police.
"Officers identified an assailant who ran toward a Jewish [worshipper] and tried to knock him to the ground. He then continued running toward the policemen while brandishing a sharp object in his hand, intending to harm them," a police spokesman said.
The police said that when the assailant ignored orders to stop, they opened fire, fatally wounding him.
The spokesman said the assailant was a 26-year-old resident of the West Bank town of Qalandiya and that he did not have a legal permit to be in Jerusalem.
Police deployment in and around Jerusalem has been bolstered for the High Holidays.
The foiled attack came two days after a Palestinian teenager stabbed an Israeli man to death at a shopping plaza in Gush Etzion. The victim, Ari Fuld, managed to shoot and wound his attacker before collapsing. Fuld succumbed to his wounds in the hospital.
