Ben Yehuda Street bombings
Ben Yehuda Street (named after Eliezer Ben-Yehuda) is a main avenue in the downtown of Jewish West Jerusalem, and the site of a pedestrian mall has been bombed several times over the course of a number of conflicts, with great loss of civilian life.
1948 bombing
On February 4, 1948, as the conflict over the coming partition of Palestine grew, three car bombs arranged by Arab irregulars exploded on Ben Yehuda Street killing 52 Jewish civilians and leaving 123 injured.
At least two British deserters were involved in the attack, having been promised pay by Abed al-Kader al-Husseini, who was the commander of the Arab forces in the area.
1975 bombings
On Friday, July 4, 1975, a refrigerator that had five kilograms of explosives packed into its sides exploded on Ben Yehuda Street. Fifteen people were killed and 77 were injured. After the attack, Yitzhak Rabin, then prime minister, said: "The murder serves as a warning not to get caught up in illusions about the intentions of the terror organizations ... Therefore we must follow a strict policy of not negotiating with them. We must speak to them only in the language they understand, the language of the sword."
1997 bombings
On September 4, 1997, three Hamas suicide bombers simultaneously blew themselves up on the pedestrian mall, killing four Israelis.
2001 bombings
On December 1, 2001 two suicide bombers detonated themselves on Ben Yehuda Street, followed by a a car bomb set to go off as paramedics arrived. Ten people were killed, including many children, and 188 were injured in the terrorist attacks.
Other attacks
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz lists the following other attacks in a March 2001 article by Yair Sheleg:
- September 8, 1971: A grenade was thrown into the entrance of Cafe Alno on Ben Yehuda Street. The grenade did not explode and there were no injuries.
- December 12, 1974: An explosive device went off in Ben Yehuda Street. Thirteen people were injured lightly to moderately.
- November 13, 1975: An explosive charge went off near cafe Naveh, on Jaffa Road near the pedestrian mall. Seven people were killed and 45 injured.
- April 9, 1976: A car bomb was dismantled on Ben Yehuda Street shortly before it was to have exploded.
- May 3, 1976: Thirty-three passers-by were injured when a booby-trapped motor scooter exploded at the corner of Ben Yehuda and Ben Hillel Streets. Among those injured was the Greek consul in Jerusalem and his wife. The following day, on the eve of Independence Day, the municipality organized an event at the site of the attack, under the slogan: "Nevertheless."
- January 1, 1979: A car bomb was found opposite Cafe Atara on the pedestrian mall and was neutralized about half an hour before it was to have blown up.
- March 24, 1979: One person was killed and 13 people were injured, most of them lightly, when an explosive charge blew up in a trash can in Zion Square.
- May 2, 1981: A police sapper was moderately injured by an explosive charge that had been placed in a trash can near Cafe Alno.
- August 15, 1984: A car bomb was discovered on Ben Yehuda Street and defused about 10 minutes before it was to have exploded. In the car were about 12 kilograms of explosives and another three kilograms of iron nails.