There’s a new superhero on the block. He wears no disguise and has no alter-ego or pseudonym which he goes by. This hero is none other than Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, who took matters into his own hands by stopping terrorism in its tracks–literally. And fortunately, what makes this story even more remarkable is that it was all caught on tape.
On February 22nd, Mayor Barkat was on his way to a meeting in City Hall in Jerusalem when a horrific scene unfolded before him: an armed Arab terrorist was in sight and on the loose, threatening to attack. (This terrorist had already managed to stab a Jew with a knife at a busy junction by Tzahal Square near the Old City, where there were many cars driving by and civilians waiting to cross the intersection.)
With no time to contemplate, Barkat left the safety of his vehicle and stepped out with one of his bodyguards to approach the junction where the terrorist was standing menacingly with his knife, and tackled him. Soon after the danger was lifted, an ambulance arrived to transfer the lone stabbing victim with non-critical wounds to the hospital, as well as the police who came to arrest the terrorist at the scene of the crime.
The mayor was successful in quelling the terrorist and preventing any further harm. Mayor Barkat explained the reasoning for not immediately killing the terrorist to ABC News: as soon as the terrorist saw his bodyguard’s gun pointed at him, he dropped his knife, giving Barkat an opportunity to wrestle him to the ground, out of harm’s way and unable to escape. This whole incident occurred in just about a minute.
Despite the obvious danger the terrorist posed, Barkat was not fearful for his own life, and was only concerned with stopping the terrorist from committing any more harm (Tablet Magazine, 2/23/15). As the mayor of Jerusalem, he is acutely aware of the ongoing tensions among the Israelis and Palestinians in the city, and knows that the security of his citizens is his number one priority. He insisted and proved with statistics that despite that fact, Jerusalem is one of the safest places in the world, and in his humble opinion, he was glad he was at the scene at the right place and time to do his job (USA Today, 2/23/15).
It should also come as no surprise that Barkat was able to handle the scene well under pressure since he served in the IDF for six years, first as a paratrooper and then as a company commander. To note, this isn’t the first time either that Mayor Barkat can be credited for saving the day. In the past, he’s credited for also helping civilians off of a terrorist targeted bus and for performing first aid (The Jerusalem Post, 2/22/15).
The media has widely applauded Barkat for his bravery and heroism in the matter. Israelis in particular turned to social media to publicize Barkat’s action. Across the web, images of him in superhero stances and costumes — in particular as Batman (sounds similar enough to Barkat) — can be found and are quite amusing. Additionally, others have compared him to Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, who saved a woman from a burning building in 2012.
Mayor Barkat actualized his potential by protecting Jerusalem with his own two hands. Aside for the preemptive measures he generally puts in place to guard the city through appointing police and security, this quick decision making and fast acting on his part gives him a lot of well-deserved respect and publicity for truly caring about the well-being of his city. A fellow Stern College junior phrased Barkat’s heroism: “What he did shows true leadership. True leadership isn’t just speaking and demanding things from others – what unfortunately many leaders in the past have done – rather, it’s about taking action yourself.”