For the first time since the incident, the Chareidi man from Tzfas who was threatened with a gun by an IDF soldier last week shared his account in an interview, saying that “I feel as if Chareidi blood has been declared hefker.”

Speaking with Radio 103FM on Wednesday, N. said:  “I was driving on Route 90. To my right was an IDF soldier, a career officer, who signaled for me to pull over. I stopped at a red light near the Rosh Pina Junction. I got out of my car, walked over to him, and asked if something had happened. He was sitting there with his weapon, a magazine inserted, his finger on the trigger, pointing the gun at me, and he said, ‘Get out of here. Move, or I’ll shoot you.'”

“At first I thought he was joking,” N. said. “I asked him, ‘Are you threatening me with a gun?’ I ran back to my car. I don’t have a smartphone, but I do have a dashcam. I turned it on and went back to him. By then, he was no longer carrying the weapon.”

From there, N. drove to the nearby police station in Rosh Pina. “I stopped there and had a panic attack. They wanted to call an ambulance for me—I was literally shaking,” he recounted. “I filed a complaint against him there, and afterward I also filed a complaint with the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division. I hope this matter will be handled by the police.”

When asked whether the soldier had said anything else during the confrontation, N. replied: “He threw out the word ‘deserter.’ I told him that I served in the army. Even if I hadn’t served, you’re not allowed to do something like this to another person,” he emphasized.

“If it weren’t for the current atmosphere in the country, I probably would have lowered my head and gone home,” he continued. “But I felt that our blood has been declared hefker. You’re walking down the street, and someone points a gun at you. I was shocked. Since when do people point a weapon at a civilian in Israel? It’s simply unacceptable.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)