Elderly Veteran Survives Terrorist Attack, Shares Details of Harrowing Ordeal

An Arab teenager who went on the attack in Israel injured two men and tried to two stab soldiers near the entrance to Alon Shvut, a settlement on the West Bank. One victim a 70-year-old former U.S. Marine living in Israel is sharing his experience.

David Ramati says that the 17-year-old attacker, who was from the Palestinian Authority-controlled town of Halhul, was smiling as he ran at him. Ramati, no stranger to action, told the terrorist, "You’re not going to kill me today."

"I wasn’t afraid,” said Ramati.

It's not surprising. Ramati is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and fought in the Vietnam war. After two combat tours of duty and was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. The Chicago-born man went back to the U.S. to finish college, he then got married and he and his wife settled down in Wisconsin. Ramati ran a farm and the couple had two children.

Though Ramati was not born to a Jewish family, he became very interested in following the 1967 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973 in Israel. He and his wife began to re-examine their religious beliefs and eventually were inspired to convert to Orthodox Judaism. They left farm life behind, uprooted the family and moved to Israel in 1975.

The military man went on to serve another 25 years in the Israel Defense Forces and obtained the rank of Captain. In his time, he’s seen a lot of action. When the attack occurred, his training and experience kicked in and his reactions were calm and collected.

The terrorist drove a car and sped toward Ramati. The veteran was ready for him.

“The terrorist drove past me, then made a U-turn, and at that point I understood that he was planning to attack me,” Ramati said to Army Radio in an interview. “I realized that I didn’t have time to draw my gun, so I jumped the fence. While I was in the air [jumping the fence], he managed to run into me with his car.”

The young terrorist rammed into Ramati, then he went on to hit another pedestrian. He proceeded to speed towards two IDF soldiers and stopped the vehicle. He jumped out and rushed to the soldiers in an attempt to stab them. The soldiers drew their guns and shot the teen.

Ramati suffered some minor injuries, noting he barely escaped a much worse fate. The veteran's daughter wasn't surprised that her father survived the attack.

“That’s my dad,” said Elisheva Federman. "He’s lived through a lot of wars and terror attacks. No terrorist is going to stop him. He’s only regret is that he wasn’t able to draw his gun in time and eliminate the terrorist.”

The second pedestrian hit, a 35-year-old man, suffered more serious injuries and underwent brain surgery. He's listed as being in stable condition.

Also in critical condition is the unnamed teen who launched the rogue attack. The two soldiers were uninjured.

Source: IsraelNationalNews.com (2)
Photos: YouTube, Yishai Porat/YNetNews