Israeli Travelers Fight Off Hatchet-Wielding Attackers in Mongolia

Six Israeli travelers fought off a violent, apparently antisemitic assault in northern Mongolia, driving away a group of attackers who came at them with knives and hatchets. The confrontation unfolded on the evening of Monday, July 13, at a remote campsite where the three men and three women had stopped for the night. As a group of men of Kazakh Muslim origin approached, the Israelis sensed danger, put on closed shoes, and braced for a fight.

The assailants began striking at them while shouting “Heil Hitler” and “Get out of here,” but the travelers refused to be victims. One repelled an attacker with a glass bottle, another wrested a knife from an assailant's hand, and together the group beat back the assault and forced their attackers to flee. Fighting hand to hand against men wielding blades, the six travelers held their ground and ultimately drove the entire group off. One Israeli suffered a broken jaw in the fighting, the only serious injury among them.

With the help of a local driver, the travelers escaped the area, and the wounded man was later flown home to Israel for medical care. “It was clear that it was motivated by antisemitism,” one of the victims said afterward. The group alerted the Israeli Embassy in China, which also covers Mongolia, and the ambassador and embassy staff stayed in close contact with them, assisting until all six had safely left the country. (INN/VFI News)

“Father, we thank You for protecting these six travelers and giving them the courage and strength to defend themselves against those who sought to harm them. We ask You to watch over every Jewish person and every Israeli abroad, shielding them from the rising hatred that pursues them across the nations. Bring healing to the one who was injured, and comfort all who have been shaken by this violence. Rebuke the spirit of antisemitism wherever it rises, and turn the hearts of the haters toward repentance and life, in Yeshua's Name.”