Erez Bar-On, 30, of the West Bank settlement of Ofra, became a hero Monday after shooting a terrorist to death as the latter attempted to stab him and a teenager at a hitchhikers' station near the settlement of Shilo.
Talking to Ynet, Bar-On slammed the government's roadblock removal policy and its decision to supply the Palestinians with armored vehicles.
"This is a foolish policy which directly acts against us," he said.
After reenacting the incident before police officers, Bar-On said that what was important to him at the moment was that the lessons would be learned.
According to him, the central and important message from the incident was that "the Palestinians cannot be allowed to roam freely. If the situation had been slightly different, and I wouldn’t have kept cool, it could have ended with the death of two citizens, rather than the terrorist."
Two knives were found on the body of the 20-year-old Palestinian, a Birzeit University student.
Scene of thwarted attack (Photo: AP)
Recounting the dramatic incident, Bar-On said, "I got off a car with another guy and stood at the hitchhikers' station at the direction of Jerusalem. A few second after we arrived, someone crossed the road towards us. We could tell that he was not Jewish.
"He tried to shake our hands, but something was suspicious. He asked us in broken English where he could catch a bus to the Birzeit University. I told him in English, 'No, and waved at him with my hand to move away. I was afraid, and so was the student who was with me.
"The terrorist said that he was from America, and kept his hand inside his shirt. Suddenly, he pulled out a knife and shouted, 'Allah Akbar' (God is great). I took two steps backwards and shot him."
According to Bar-On, the terrorist stood about a meter and a half away from him. "I didn't think twice. My life was in clear danger, and so was the life of the student standing next to me."